In campo per la vittoria

My soccer team and our coach (all St. Louis Public High people) decided to go see Game of Their Lives today, opening day. We went to the Chase, one of the three theaters in the area where the movie was playing. We were hyped no matter what - It was the weekend and we were a bunch of teenage girls going to go see a movie. None of us actually expected a great movie though. We were happily surprised though.

The movie started off introducing the tale - the who, what, where, when, and whys of it all. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch journalist, Dent McSkimming, retells this information and relays us back to 1950. We are introduced to the St. Louis members of the team in a rather amusing manner, in which the team gathers from such venues as a funeral... They gather down at the Hill (where a good deal of the film was filmed), and play a game. For soccer fans, these scenes are really fun to watch, and wonder how the scenes must have been choreographed. It really is amazing.

In addition to the St. Louis members, there are East Coasters who join the team. The team ends up being rather segregated between the two groups. The teams are brought together by the leaders from each side, Walter Bahr (the amazing Wes Bentley) and Frank Borghi (the equally amazing Gerard Butler). The two have a great on screen chemistry, especially when they go to recruit Joe Gatjaens (played by Jimmy Jean-Louis).

The whole cast is amazing, but none more so than the three fore-mentioned actors who really truly seemed to become the soccer player they were portraying. It was a lot of fun to cheer with the rest of the theater every time Frank (Mr. Butler) stops the ball, or when Joe (Mr. Jean- Lewis) scores the game winning goal against the Brits. Jay Rodan is also particularly amusing as "Pee-Wee" Wallace. It's hard not to like the characters you're supposed to like (and equally as hard not to dislike the ones you're supposed to dislike, such as Gavin Rossdale as Stanley Mortensen).

It was also fun to sit in a theater filled with people who were actually in the movie. The Chase was packed with extras who were eager to cheer out every time they were on screen. The man sitting next to our coach plays the barber in the very beginning of the film and told us to cheer for him when he came on. So of course we did. Then, as soon as his part was over, he stood up and said 'All right, that's it for me' and left. It was absolutely hilarious. The man in front of us had pictures of him and Gerard Butler at the Premier, which was held in St. Louis. This film has been something that has united St. Louisans, and anyone from the city should go see it. It is an amazing deal of fun to see the little car place across from Adrianna's (home of the best sandwich in the city) and the field up at Soldan High, or the Bocce field on the Hill. It shows the real St. Louis.

All in all, this was an amazing movie that everyone should see, especially those from St. Louis and those who have ever played or watched soccer. It's a great story no matter what. And the film isn't too long either... So if you don't like it - well, you don't have to sit through it for too long (now that's what I call logic).

9/10 stars (I just can't call it perfect... Awfully close though.)

First and foremost, I'm hardly a soccer expert and barely a soccer fan so this commentary comes strictly from a movie fan and a fan who enjoys critiquing films. That said, I found The Game of Their Lives to be a solid film. It's a product of the same mind that brought us "Rudy" and "Hoosiers" and one can expect similar results. It tells the tale of the 1950 US World Cup team that shockingly beat England (though did not win the World Cup itself) It begins in St Louis, providing backgrounds and insight into the lives and families of the St Louisians who later will be on the World Cup Team.

Strong performances from Wes Bentley and Gerard Butler lead this film to the final victory. Bentley and Butler portray the leaders of the team (Walter Bahr and Frank Borghi, respectively) with likability and believability. The supporting cast that rounds out the team also turn out performances that will keep you involved with wanting to route for this team. Don't expect an electric atmosphere, however, as this story is told from a reporter reminiscing.

The Game of Their Lives offers character development for the team members without ever straying from the subject at hand. Through their actions on and off the field, the audience can get a taste for who these men were. Much homage and respect is also deservingly paid to England for their magnificent history in the sport. This is not one of those ports films that serves to make the United States seem over glorious and under mind the greatness of England, as many assume it will. I for one walked away from this film with a greater respect for England and what they've done, and continue to do, for the sport

This film records the most unlikely upset in World Cup history, the 1-0 United States defeat of England in the Brazilian mining city of Belo Horizonte ("Beautiful Horizon"), 300 miles north of Rio di Janeiro, on June 29, 1950. The United States was a team of part time amateurs who were drawn against the mighty English squad, playing in its first World Cup and determined to show the world their mastery of the game they had invented. Football fans who saw the score reported assumed the score line was a typographical error, as it was unthinkable that the US could even stay with, much less defeat, an English side which featured some of the games all time great players, including Billy Wright, Sir Stanley Matthews (who sat out the match), Stan Mortenson and Wilf Mannion. London bookmakers offered odds of 500-1 against such an preposterous event. The New York Times refused to run the score when it was first reported, deeming it a hoax.

The US team was a collection of first generation American soccer players drawn mainly from club teams on the east coast and included five St. Louisans, four of whom grew up in the "Hill" neighborhood of South St. Louis: goalie Frank Borghi, fullback Frank Colombo, forward Gino Pariani, and midfielder Frank "Pee Wee" Wallace, and also the long time St. Louis University soccer coach, halfback Harry Keough. The US had only one full time professional player on its roster, Hugh McIllvenny from Scotland. They had played together only two weeks when they departed for Brazil. They'd lost to Italy in a World Cup warm up by the score of 9-0, and had been defeated by Spain in the World Cup opener 3-1.

It was reported that the American players were so confident that victory was unlikely that several of them were out late the night before the game enjoying themselves and sported hangovers at the opening kickoff. Borghi was quoted afterwards as saying he was hoping to hold the English to five or six goals. The English team poured forward, firing shot after shot at goalie Borghi, but could not score. Six minutes before half time, U.S. center forward Joe Gaetgens, a Haitian born dishwasher living in New York, redirected with a lunging header a shot by half back Walter Bahr, who is himself, incidentally, the long time Penn State soccer coach and the father of NFL placekickers and former Penn State soccer players Chris and Matt Bahr. The misdirected shot beat England keeper Bert Williams, and the single goal stood up through a second half where the Americans withstood constant English pressure and numerous near misses, including three shots off the woodwork.

The Brazilian crowd thoroughly enjoyed the failures of the pretournament favorites and carried the US team off the field after the final whistle. The game was noteworthy for the complete lack of interest in the result by the American press and public. The only American reporter at the game, Dent McSkimming of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, used his vacation time and paid his own way to Brazil to cover the game.

Author Geoffrey Douglas' book advances the premise that the victory was not a fluke when one considers the character and promise of the winning American players, as evidenced by the upstanding and honorable men they came to be.

Trivia: the English national soccer team has never again worn blue shirts they wore against the US in that game.

The film was shot on location in St. Louis and Brazil, and features former US National Soccer Team Captain John Harkes as a consultant and soccer playing extra.

Contrary to the comment above, they do not say that they won the World Cup or insinuate that at all in the description (please read it carefully).

It's from a couple of great directors and is more about the backbone of the surroundings of the 1950's, family and the wide ethic backgrounds of that era. I didn't find it to be another Hoosiers or Miracle, but it's still a pretty good soccer movie (although Bend It Like Beckam was more entertaining). It's definitely worth a watch if you love sports in general and have any knowledge at all of the 1950's and all that was going on.

If you enjoy soccer, you'll really like this movie about USA underdogs playing the Brits, the best in the world in 1950. The audience I was with consisted of adults and kids in soccer uniforms. The movie drew cheers and applause especially during the final confrontation. Gerard Butler as the great goalkeeper Frank Borghi really gives this movie heart and soul. The actors were chosen for their ability to actually play soccer so the game sequences are very realistic. Butler especially throws his body into a bone-crunching depiction of a goalkeeper with the heart of a lion.

You don't have to be know much about soccer to enjoy this movie. I highly recommend it to everyone who likes an exciting movie and wonderful acting. Three cheers!