When the hard times come, and they are gonna come in truckloads, what can you do? just try to fight them and find a way to get back up. This is the story of a man who struggles to make ends meet, who is abandoned by his wife, and at the age of 30 is still asking his dad for money. He hangs around a pub with his jobless friends, and plays backyard football with them for which he seems to be better than any. One day, a call is made by the city's football team. They are looking for new players and are willing to give a chance to anyone to do a trial. And guess what, the protagonist makes it to the team!! A true story. Vincent Papale is his name. If you are looking for a Rockyesque type of movie, the type where an average man makes it to the top out of the blue and inspires a generation, this is it.

I've seen this a couple times now over the years and always really enjoy it. Its hard not to, another one of those inspirational sports-underdog stories that has you invested and cheering for a down on his luck local hero.Mark Whalberg puts in a great performance here as Vince Papale, he's a hero we can relate to, just an average neighborhood guy trying to get by in a tough economy, working as a bartender after he loses his teaching job due to budget cuts, his wife has just left him (and a "nice" note) proclaiming he will never amount to anything. Vince gets his chance when the Philadelphia Eagles announce open tryouts for the team. At 30 and never having played college ball he doesn't expect this to lead anywhere, instead just decides to take the opportunity to stand on the same field as his idols.The story here is very similar to 'Rocky' with the Eagles taking the place of Apollo Creed (actually when I think about it there's too many comparisons to count so I won't go there) It's a great movie regardless, lots of interesting secondary characters to get invested in, with the whole neighborhood garnishing hope from Vince's success, a budding romance, a coach that is very likable (Greg Kinnear) yet also out of his depths with this losing team.This has been put on by Walt Disney Pictures so there is a certain amount of sugar coating to how this story has been told. The soundtrack is excellent transporting you back to the mid 70's I especially enjoyed the real footage cut in of Papale after the outcome of that all-important Big Game. He looked ecstatic.You come away from this one feeling like the you can do anything and that's always a good thing. 10/19/15

I like Mark Wahlberg in some movies, others I think he is just okay. In this one, I thought he was just great. he plays a truly likable former high school football player (who never played in college), but still hits the "gridiron" in pick up games in South Philly in the late 1970s. He's lost his job as a high school teacher and his wife left him, leaving a note that he will never go anywhere in life. Well, things change rather quickly when Dick Vermil (played strongly by Greg Kinear) takes over for the desperate, losing Philadelphia Eagles. Vermil decides to give walk-on tryouts to Philadelphia natives, as a publicity stunt. One person gets called to camp, and that's Wahlberg's character. This is a definite inspirational story, which is based on a true story, where the guy actually makes the team. Wahlberg's character has speed, intensity, passion, and will, and he becomes a special teams expert, playing 3 or 4 years in the NFL. Only downside,as I have learned in many of these "biographical" movies, is that while it was close to the truth, there were many things in the movie that turned out to be just plain false. but if you're watching Invincible as just a movie, and not a biography, then this is great one, which didn't get the critical reviews it deserves.

I'll have to admit bias on this one. Not so much because I grew up a Philadelphia Eagles fan, but because even more than that I am a huge fan or the underdog and outsider. Even better, Invincible is based on a true story of a man walking on to his hometown NFL team.In the drab and recession-laden mid-1970s, the lowly Philadelphia Eagles are so bad that their new head coach, Dick Vermeil, announces team tryouts open to the public on live TV. While every Eagles fan and football-obsessed yahoo in town lines up, one standout athlete, a 30 year old bartender named Vince Papale is good enough to make the team and go pro.In a style reminiscent of Rocky, the film's character struggles not only with his past failures amidst a new challenge of making the cut day-by-day, but he also grapples with his new role as a star and outcast in his own microcosm of working class Philadelphia life.Greg Kinnear and Mark Wahlberg are both convincing in their roles, and even if you're a Giants or Cowboys fan, you will be inspired to root for Papale as the underdog that delivers on game day.written by Andy Frye, MySportsComplex.blogspot.com