What Took Me So Long: I'm not much of a fan of the 70s. Football, or Mark Wahlberg. This is not a good formula.
Why I Saw It: God help me, I enjoy a good sports movie.. Even bad ones I tend to get more enjoyment than I should. The story is a kind of interesting one, like a Football version of The Rookie. Mark Wahlberg does a respectable job as the everyman, like Dennis Quaid. Greg Kinnear does good work too as the coach, much like Denzel in Remember the Titans. I was impressed with how the football scenes were shot (not unlike Friday Night Lights). There's a big difference the way the pick up games are shot versus the NFL ones. Lastly, I appreciated that they didn't try to overdo the stakes. Wahlberg plays a local boy who makes it on the Eagles and tries to not get cut. It's like Rudy but at a higher level. The climax is his team finally winning a game. Normally, playing in a championship game is a requirement, so the is a nice change of pace.
Why I Wish I Hadn't: I think you've picked up on my main gripe: It's all very "been-there, done-that". It is a lot like almost all sports stories that came after it and since. I got the required level of enjoyment from each beat. There wasn't an X-factor to it that will help me remember it from The Express or We Are Marshall two weeks from now.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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