the narrative and dialogue club us over the head in an effort to make 21st-century viewers understand why the victory of America's team over England was of such monumental importance.
Comment
03/01/07
The Game of Their Lives (2005)
25 %
Reviews Counted: 32 Fresh: 8 Rotten:24 Average Rating: 4.5/10
Consensus:
An enthusiastic but ultimately uninspired soccer film.
Synopsis: From the creators of Rudy and Hoosiers, based on a true story, "The Game of Their Lives" follows the US National Soccer Team, which shows that with passion and commitment, anything is possible – even the greatest upset in the history of the World Cup.... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Gerard Butler, Wes Bentley, Jay Rodan, Gavin Rossdale, Patrick Stewart
Reviews
A treat for soccer fans who have yet to see their favorite game given its due on the big screen. This won't be a classic soccer movie, but it's a start.
09/28/06
A sentimental, creaky, underwritten, overloaded picture that fails as character study, period film, sports movie and heart-stirrer.
06/03/05
Enough enthusiasm, authenticity, and spirited soccer play to offset the missing ingredients.
05/11/05
The Game of Their Lives takes a standard inspirational sports movie structure.
05/09/05
Director David Anspaugh has a skilled touch, but there’s just not that much drama to film. This is a very competent, very predictable sports film.
04/25/05
...lacks even a penalty kick's worth of tension and is paradoxically inert for a movie about guys running up and down the pitch for the glory of the U.S.
04/22/05
Top Critic
Angelo Pizzo's screenplay is rife with the expected sports and gamesmanship cliches, and he and Anspaugh take forever just to get to the game action, which is the only really worthwhile material.
04/22/05
These guys give a sport that is virtually nameless in the movies a good name in this one.
04/22/05
...this soccer tale is about as exciting to watch as a scoreless match between opponents so defense-minded the ball never gets beyond midfield.
04/22/05
It's difficult to muster dislike for The Game of Their Lives, which is reasonably interesting, but it needed more grit and inspiration than this straightforward account can provide.
04/22/05
The Game of Their Lives has little to recommend unless you're jonesing for a generic period piece boasting lots of slow-motion sports montages set to swelling music.
04/22/05
Pure, unadulterated sentiment served up with a straight face, The Game of Their Lives is a middling depiction of one of the all-time great underdog stories in sports history.
04/22/05
Too many references to the inevitable popularity of soccer in America make [the film] less about the players' lives and more about selling soccer as a spectator sport.
04/22/05
The Game of Their Lives has a great sports story to tell, yet the filmmakers fumble it away.
04/22/05
Top Critic
A reverent fable of such soothing proportions that it would be churlish to ask if America ever really looked like that -- or sounded like that, either:As an old sportswriter, Patrick Stewart tries out an accent left over by the Pepperidge Farm cookie man.
04/22/05
Related Forums
Movie Updates
by: at3976 7/24/03
by: at3976 7/24/03
Pictures
IGN RSS Feeds