Invincible

Invincible (Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks) – If this weren’t a true story, you would say it has been done a dozen times and is very predictable.  It is all of those things, but you’ll find yourself rooting for Vince Papale, the part-time bartender and out-of-work substitute teacher whose love for the Philadelphia Eagles rivals that of a certain movie critic for the more storied Pittsburgh Steelers.  Marky Mark has come a long way from his rock ‘n roll days with a body of action films that make him very likable and surprisingly bankable.  The best performances are reserved for the secondary players here led by Elizabeth Banks (Seabiscuit) and Papale’s loyal friends. Greg Kinnear captures almost all of the elements of almost-legendary coach Dick Vermeil, who decides that the hapless Eagles should hold an open tryout at which he discovers Papale.  Vince never even played college football, but he’s a demon of the no-holds-barred tackle football game in the “hood.”  Vermeil led the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory in the post-Steelers era, then burned out, and resurfaced to lead the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl almost two decades later.  Here, Vermeil has left a successful college career at UCLA to take on the beleaguered Eagles and their “worst fans in the world.”  Yes, you know the story and the ending, but the rags-to-riches nature of the story fulfills the dream of every sandlot jock who ever dreamt of making it in the big leagues.