The ANNOTICO Report

The main focus of the film 'The Game of Their Lives' is on three
Italian-Americans.

The key player, and inspirational leader was  goalie Frank Borghi, whose
athleticism in front of the net saves his team time after time. Gino
Pariani, whose wedding moves up to accommodate the team schedule; and
"Gloves" Columbo, the team enforcer, were the Italian American heart of the
US team.

This last minute recruited group of ragtag Yanks was assembled almost
literally overnight, giving players only a few weeks for training and
warm-up matches before flying to Rio.

The Brits, on the otherhand, were a legendary team, the best team in the
world, led by British  football legend Stan Mortensen.

There is a strong parallel between "The Game of Their Lives" and "The
Miracle on Ice", when the 1980 USA men's hockey team, mere collegians, went
on their improbable Olympic gold medal run, and beat the professional like
Russian team.

LOS ANGELES - "The Game of Their Lives" has a great sports story to tell.

Director David Anspaugh and writer Angelo Pizzo have collaborated on sports
features before, notably "Hoosiers" and "Rudy." Here, they portray the
heroism and drama that went into the U.S. soccer team's defeat of a
legendary British team at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.

"Game" will appeal mostly to men, especially sports buffs since, unlike
"Bend It Like Beckham," the story remains rooted to the football pitch.

Movies about upset sports victories usually focus on one or two primary
characters. Here Anspaugh and Pizzo take a diffuse approach, spreading the
dramatic interest over seven major characters -- not including the coach, a
sportswriter, a couple of wives and one key opponent. The film ably evokes
the Eisenhower era, both in the U.S. and Brazil. Yet perhaps because of the
near invisibility of soccer in the U.S. in 1950, the emotional stakes and
involvement a U.S. viewer might feel toward, say, a basketball team or
track star are noticeably absent.

Anspaugh puts together a fine ensemble cast to play the ragtag Yanks. The
U.S. team was assembled almost literally overnight, giving players only a
few weeks for training and warm-up matches before flying to Rio. Coach Bill
Jeffrey (John Rhys-Davies) and promoter Walter Giesler (Craig Hawksley)
took the expedient of setting up only one tryout game in St. Louis between
East Coast players and a group of Italian-Americans from "the Hill" in St.
Louis, a neighborhood hotbed of football talent. The film's main focus is
on the Italian-Americans.

Gerard Butler, relieved of the burden of singing he endured in the titular
role of "The Phantom of the Opera," capably plays the key player, goalie
Frank Borghi, whose athleticism in front of the net saves his team time
after time. Rounding out the squad are Jay Rodan as "Pee Wee" Wallace, a
boisterous party guy with a deathly fear of flying; Louis Mandylor as Gino
Pariani, whose wedding moves up to accommodate the team schedule; Zachery
Bryan as Harry Keough, a local mail carrier; and Costas Mandylor as
"Gloves" Columbo, the team enforcer.

>From the East Coast comes Wes Bentley as Walter Bahr, a halfback from
Philly who virtually manages the team given the coach's indifference and
lack of faith, and Jimmy Jean-Louis as colorful Joe Gaetjens, a Haitian
with a strong belief in voodoo.

The story is told by a local sportswriter who accompanies the team to
Brazil, Dent McSkimming, played by Patrick Stewart in present day and Terry
Kinney as the young reporter. Gavin Rossdale, the lead singer-songwriter of
Bush, makes his film debut as British football legend Stan Mortensen.

The movie skips the World Cup opener against Spain, which the U.S. lost, to
get right to the game with the Brits, then considered the best team in the
world. There is a mild attempt to villainize Mortensen, whose smirk of
supreme self-confidence fades quickly when the Yanks score a first-half
goal. The game itself, which occupies the final third of the film, is
interesting and well played by the actor-athletes yet fails to galvanize
one's emotions.

The players are men caught up in the transcendent moment of their lives.
Long before the game gets under way, the film needed to enter much more
intensely into their lives in an Italian ethnic big-city ghetto. In other
words, the film would have benefited with more story and less soccer.

Period details ring true. Even women's hairdos conform to '50s styles.
Production values are aces, which is especially noteworthy given the modest
budget and what must have been an arduous 49-day shooting schedule.

Cast: Frank Borghi: Gerard Butler; Walter Bahr: Wes Bentley; Dent
McSkimming: Patrick Stewart; Harry Keough: Zachary Bryan; "Pee Wee"
Wallace: Jay Rodan; Gino Pariani: Louis Mandylor; "Gloves" Colombo: Costas
Mandylor; Joe Gaetjens: Jimmy Jean-Louis; Stanley Mortensen: Gavin
Rossdale; Bill Jeffrey: John Rhys-Davies.

Director: David Anspaugh; Screenwriter: Angelo Pizzo

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

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