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Invincible (2006 film)
Encyclopedia
Invincible is a 2006 family film
directed by Ericson Core set in 1976. It is based on the true story of Vince Papale
, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles
from 1976
–78
. Mark Wahlberg
portrays Papale and Greg Kinnear
plays Papale's coach, Dick Vermeil
. The movie was released in the US on August 25, 2006.
head coach Dick Vermeil
decides to hold open tryouts in 1976 for a spot on the pro football
team's roster. Vince Papale
is a 30-year-old bartender who has just lost his part-time teaching job. He had gone to Saint Joseph's University
(then known as St. Joseph's College) on a track scholarship. Disgusted with his professional failure, his wife, Mellie Faircwib, abruptly leaves him, taking all of their furniture with her and leaving a note saying that he never will be anything in the world.
With the support of all his friends from the neighborhood, Papale goes out for an open tryout practice; catching the attention of coach Vermeil, he is invited to come along to training camp. Papale eventually makes the team, and after a dismal display in the opening game of the season, he recovers a fumble
and returns it for a touchdown
in the second regular season game versus the New York Giants
, which leads to Vermeil's first victory with the Eagles.
Aston Green Knights of the Seaboard Football League
and then two seasons with the Philadelphia Bell
of the World Football League
, one of the NFL's rival leagues on the level of the AFL
and the USFL. Papale was a standout special teams star for the Bell, who played at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium.
In addition, the Eagles never held an open tryout: the tryout Papale actually participated in was a private workout for Eagles coaches that was by invitation only.
On the film's DVD, Papale appears with the director in the Director Commentary portion. Papale makes no mention of these differences in his commentary.
at the University of Pennsylvania
, and the Central High School Lancers field during the July/August months of 2005. (For 13 seasons, 1958
–70
, Franklin Field was the home field of the Eagles.) The crew used their locker room and field. The Lancers, who had a preseason, used Fairmount Park
in West Philadelphia during this time. The carnival scenes were filmed at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in South Philadelphia at 2329 South Third Street. Some of the street scenes were filmed on location in the city. The remainder of the film was filmed in a former aircraft carrier parts warehouse on Langley Avenue in the Philadelphia Naval Business Center. The crew shared this facility with the floats for the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade.
, and a "generally favorable" rating with a 63/100 on Metacritic
.
Family film
A family film is a film genre that is designed to appeal to a variety of age groups and, thus, families.In December 2005, Steven Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial came first in a poll of the 100 Greatest Family Films. The genre today generates billions of dollars per annum.Family...
directed by Ericson Core set in 1976. It is based on the true story of Vince Papale
Vince Papale
Vincent Francis Papale is a former professional American football player. He played three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League following two seasons with the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League...
, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
from 1976
1976 NFL season
The 1976 NFL season was the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 28 teams with the addition of the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...
–78
1978 NFL season
The 1978 NFL season was the 59th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams by adding another wild card from each conference...
. Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
portrays Papale and Greg Kinnear
Greg Kinnear
Gregory "Greg" Kinnear is an American actor and television personality who first rose to stardom in 1991. He has appeared in more than 20 motion pictures, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in As Good as It Gets.-Early life:Kinnear was born in Logansport, Indiana, the son of...
plays Papale's coach, Dick Vermeil
Dick Vermeil
Richard Albert "Dick" Vermeil is a former American head coach for the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles , St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs...
. The movie was released in the US on August 25, 2006.
Plot
To spice things up for his organization, newly-hired EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
head coach Dick Vermeil
Dick Vermeil
Richard Albert "Dick" Vermeil is a former American head coach for the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles , St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs...
decides to hold open tryouts in 1976 for a spot on the pro football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team's roster. Vince Papale
Vince Papale
Vincent Francis Papale is a former professional American football player. He played three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League following two seasons with the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League...
is a 30-year-old bartender who has just lost his part-time teaching job. He had gone to Saint Joseph's University
Saint Joseph's University
Saint Joseph's University is a private, coeducational Roman Catholic Jesuit university located partially in the Wynnefield section of Philadelphia and partially in Lower Merion Township and located in the Pennsylvania Main Line, Pennsylvania, United States.The school was founded in 1851 as Saint...
(then known as St. Joseph's College) on a track scholarship. Disgusted with his professional failure, his wife, Mellie Faircwib, abruptly leaves him, taking all of their furniture with her and leaving a note saying that he never will be anything in the world.
With the support of all his friends from the neighborhood, Papale goes out for an open tryout practice; catching the attention of coach Vermeil, he is invited to come along to training camp. Papale eventually makes the team, and after a dismal display in the opening game of the season, he recovers a fumble
Fumble
A fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player, who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession...
and returns it for a touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
in the second regular season game versus the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, which leads to Vermeil's first victory with the Eagles.
Differences from the true story
In reality, Papale had been playing semiprofessional and pro football for several years, first with the semi-proSemi-professional
A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...
Aston Green Knights of the Seaboard Football League
Seaboard Football League
The Seaboard Football League was a minor American football league that operated from 1971 to 1974. It folded after the 1974 season as a result of the founding of the World Football League, which deprived the league of talent....
and then two seasons with the Philadelphia Bell
Philadelphia Bell
The Philadelphia Bell was a franchise in the World Football League, which operated in 1974 and a portion of a season in 1975. The Bell played their home games at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. The team logo was a representation of the Liberty Bell....
of the World Football League
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
, one of the NFL's rival leagues on the level of the AFL
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
and the USFL. Papale was a standout special teams star for the Bell, who played at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium.
In addition, the Eagles never held an open tryout: the tryout Papale actually participated in was a private workout for Eagles coaches that was by invitation only.
On the film's DVD, Papale appears with the director in the Director Commentary portion. Papale makes no mention of these differences in his commentary.
Filming
The preseason/tryout scenes were filmed at Franklin FieldFranklin Field
Franklin Field is the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for football, field hockey, lacrosse, sprint football, and track and field . It is also used by Penn students for recreation, and for intramural and club sports, including touch football and cricket, and is the site of Penn's graduation...
at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, and the Central High School Lancers field during the July/August months of 2005. (For 13 seasons, 1958
1958 NFL season
The 1958 NFL season was the 39th regular season of the National Football League.The Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants, 23–17, in the first sudden-death overtime in an NFL Championship Game...
–70
1970 NFL season
The 1970 NFL season was the 51st regular season of the National Football League, and the first one after the AFL-NFL Merger.The merger forced a realignment between the combined league's clubs. Because there were 16 NFL teams and 10 AFL teams, three teams needed to transfer to balance the two new...
, Franklin Field was the home field of the Eagles.) The crew used their locker room and field. The Lancers, who had a preseason, used Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is the municipal park system of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of 63 parks, with , all overseen by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, successor to the Fairmount Park Commission in 2010.-Fairmount Park proper:...
in West Philadelphia during this time. The carnival scenes were filmed at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in South Philadelphia at 2329 South Third Street. Some of the street scenes were filmed on location in the city. The remainder of the film was filmed in a former aircraft carrier parts warehouse on Langley Avenue in the Philadelphia Naval Business Center. The crew shared this facility with the floats for the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Cast
- Mark WahlbergMark WahlbergMark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
as Vince PapaleVince PapaleVincent Francis Papale is a former professional American football player. He played three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League following two seasons with the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League... - Greg KinnearGreg KinnearGregory "Greg" Kinnear is an American actor and television personality who first rose to stardom in 1991. He has appeared in more than 20 motion pictures, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in As Good as It Gets.-Early life:Kinnear was born in Logansport, Indiana, the son of...
as Dick VermeilDick VermeilRichard Albert "Dick" Vermeil is a former American head coach for the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles , St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs... - Elizabeth BanksElizabeth BanksElizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
as Janet Cantrell - Kevin Conway as Frank Papale
- Michael RispoliMichael RispoliMichael Rispoli is an American character actor. He was formerly part of the HBO television series The Sopranos as Jackie Aprile, Sr...
as Max Cantrell - Kirk AcevedoKirk AcevedoKirk Acevedo is an American actor. He is primarily known for his portrayals of Miguel Alvarez in the HBO series Oz, Joe Toye in Band of Brothers and FBI Agent Charlie Francis in the science-fiction series Fringe....
as Tommy - Dov DavidoffDov DavidoffDov Davidoff is an American comedian. Dov Davidoff is originally from Englishtown, NJ. In addition to performing regularly in clubs and colleges throughout the country, Davidoff has been seen as an actor in the hit movie Invincible with Mark Wahlberg, and on any number of TV shows, most notably...
as Johnny - Michael KellyMichael Kelly (American actor)Michael Joseph Kelly is an American actor.-Early life:Kelly was born in Philadelphia and raised in Lawrenceville, Georgia, the son of Maureen and Michael Kelly. He has one brother and two sisters . He graduated from Brookwood High School in Snellville, Georgia...
as Pete - Sal Darigo as Mick
- Nicoye Banks as TJ Banks
- Turron Kofi Alleyne as Ronnie Sampson
- Cosmo DeMatteo as Dean German
- Stink FisherStink FisherStink Fisher is an American actor and restaurant owner who lives in Collingswood, New Jersey.Born in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Fisher owns The Pop Shop, a 1950s-themed restaurant. He has been in movies such as Invincible, The Longest Yard, and most recently appeared as Ruth's father in The Lovely...
as Dennis Franks - Michael MulherenMichael Mulheren- Theatre :Mulheren's Broadway debut was in 1995 in On the Waterfront, after previously appearing in The Fantastickss off-Broadway run in the 1960s. He also appeared in the 1997 production of Broadway's The Titanic. Other Broadway credits include The Boy from Oz and La Cage aux Folles; his...
as AC Craney - Michael NouriMichael NouriMichael Nouri is an American television and film actor. He may be best known for his role as Nick Hurley, in the 1983 film Flashdance. He has had recurring roles in numerous television series, including NCIS as Eli David, the father of Mossad officer Ziva David, The O.C. as Dr...
as Leonard Tose - Anthony Masucci as Josh Barnes
- Mike Kerley as Tom Landry
Box office
In opening weekend the movie made approximately $17,031,122 domestically. As of November 16, 2006, the movie has generated an estimated $57,806,952 domestically.Reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics. It is certified "fresh" with a 71% approval rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, and a "generally favorable" rating with a 63/100 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
External links
- Invincible at the Sports Movie Database