She shoots, Gracie scores.
Gracie (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:88
Fresh:52
Rotten:36
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: Gracie can be rousing and touching in spots, but is ultimately undone by its predictable story arc and a lack of nuance.
Runtime: 2 hrs 35 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Set in 1978, Gracie is an inspirational film about a teenage girl who overcomes the loss of her brother and fights the odds to achieve her dream of playing competitive soccer at a time when girls’... Set in 1978, Gracie is an inspirational film about a teenage girl who overcomes the loss of her brother and fights the odds to achieve her dream of playing competitive soccer at a time when girls’ soccer did not exist. Based on true events from the lives of the Shue family (producer and co-star Andrew Shue, Academy Award®-nominated actress Elisabeth Shue), the film is directed by Academy Award®-winning director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth), who happens to be part of the family as well, being married to Elisabeth Shue. The film also features a terrific 1970's soundtrack including classic songs from Boston, Blondie, Aretha Franklin, and the Boss, Bruce Springsteen. Living in South Orange New Jersey, 15 year old Gracie Bowen (Carly Schroeder) is the only girl in a family of three brothers. Their family life revolves almost entirely around soccer: her father (Dermot Mulroney) and brothers are obsessed with the sport, practicing in the backyard's makeshift field every day from morning ‘til night. Tragedy unexpectedly strikes when Gracie's older brother Johnny (Jesse Lee Soffer), star of the high school varsity soccer team and Gracie's only protector, is killed in a car accident. Struggling with grief over her family's loss, Gracie decides to fill the void left on her brother's team by petitioning the school board to allow her to play on the boy's high school varsity soccer team in his place. Her father, a former soccer star himself, tries to prove to Gracie that she is not tough enough or talented enough to play with boys. Her mother, Lindsey Bowen (Elisabeth Shue) already an outsider in the sports-obsessed family, is no help either. Undeterred, Gracie finds reserves of strength she never knew existed, and persists in changing everyone's beliefs in what she is capable of, including her own. Gracie not only forces her father to wake up from his grief and see her as the beautiful and strong person that she has always been but she also brings her family together in the face of their tragedy. -- © Picturehouse [More]
Starring: Carly Schroeder, Dermot Mulroney, Elisabeth Shue, Andrew Shue
Starring: Carly Schroeder, Dermot Mulroney, Elisabeth Shue, Andrew Shue, Julia Garro, Jay Patterson, Christopher Shand, Jesse Lee, Jack Walker
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Screenwriter: Karen Janszen, Lisa Marie Peterson
Producer: Davis Guggenheim, Andrew Shue, Elisabeth Shue, Lemore Syvan
Composer: Mark Isham
Studio: Picturehouse
Reviews for Gracie
A truly winning American soccer movie has yet to be made, but Gracie is good enough to play for a tie.
Screenwriters Lisa Marie Petersen and Karen Janszen pile on so much fake-feeling dramatic tension that they muck up an already perfectly compelling story about a strong young woman.
It's a sweet and uplifting film, and though quite predictable, gives us a family drama that showcases simple truths about overcoming seemingly impossible odds and leaves you with a warm and very satisfying feeling deep down.
One need not harbor a deep and abiding passion for soccer in order to connect with is likely to be the summer of 2007’s most honest and emotionally rewarding movie.
Does Gracie work as a movie? Just close enough, and closer still for a young soccer player who may already know her sports movie clichés but also recognizes when they touch on something once and truly felt.
Every triumph-over-tragedy cliche is firmly in place, but the movie still feels authentic.
There's not a lot wrong with this feel-good sports drama except that it's much like the 873 other feel-good sport dramas we've seen this year. I like it anyway, for its go-girl spunk and tenderly solemn spirit.
A familiar underdog story told with unusual sensitivity, Davis Guggenheim's Gracie depicts the obstacles faced by a young girl who dreams of playing on her high school soccer team.
Sometimes a formula picture can get that extra wrinkle that makes all the difference. Such is the case with Gracie...
This is a sweet picture; a surefire inspirational tool and a good piece of history for today's neglectful young women.
Unfortunately, this is one of those times when keeping a family scrapbook would have been far more effective.
While doing fine work otherwise, Carly Schroeder is never able to elevate the athletics of the role to make us believe the guys aren't taking it easy on her.
What kind of cold, heartless, evil failure of a human being would I have to be to dump on a feel good movie about a 15-year old girl fighting for equality and the right to play soccer?
A fifteen-year old girl becomes a fierce little soccer warrior thanks to some encouraging words from her brother and father.
Gracie balances its sentiment with gritty scenes on the soccer field.
No matter how many times we've been through the ritual, it can still work when it's done well. And it's done quite well in Gracie, a familiar but rewarding little parable set in the world of small-town New Jersey soccer in the '70s.
It's a trite, indifferently told underdog sports story that could only have been redeemed by perfect execution.
It would be easy to dismiss this drama about a high school girl who goes out for the boys' soccer team as something we've all seen before. But that would be ignoring the movie's plucky appeal.
The strong family ties on screen and behind the camera and some gritty authenticity of place and feeling remind us how what could have been cliche can have the power of archetype.
Latest News for Gracie
September 20, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: Jovovich vs. Alba in Multiplex Mayhem
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June 03, 2007:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: "Pirates" #1, "Knocked Up" Strong #2
Disney still claimed the most popular film in the land with "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" despite a drop that was sizable even by tentpole standards.... More...
May 31, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: "Knocked Up" Expecting Solid Arrival
Call it the weekend of the actor/producer. Three new films with stars that do double duty behind the scenes (or have good agents that can snag a free credit) enter a marketplace... More...
May 31, 2007:
Critical Consensus: "Knocked Up" Is A Knockout; "Mr. Brooks," "Gracie" Less So
This week at the movies we've got matters of life ("Knocked Up," starring Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen), death ("Mr. Brooks," starring Kevin Costner and... More...
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