TxMike
This nice, small movie is a product of the Shue family of soccer fame. Siblings Andrew and Elizabeth Shue are among the producers, husband of Elizabeth is the director, and the screenplay is based on Andrew's story. In fact, the whole story is loosely based on their own family as the Shue kids grew up. Carly Schroeder is Grace Bowen (Elizabeth Shue character), only daughter, of Bryan Bowen (Dermot Mulroney). Her brother is the local high school soccer star but, after barely losing to their rivals, he gets killed in a car wreck. Dad is devastated, but sister Gracie wants to play soccer. There is no girls' soccer at their school, so she has to use a title 9 approach and petition the school board to let her even try out. Elizabeth Shue plays the mother, Lindsay Bowen. Andrew Shue plays a soccer coach.This isn't a great movie, but it is a very nice one. I especially enjoy movies based on real events, like this one was. SPOILERS: Gracie in try-outs made a good impression but was not fast enough or tough enough for varsity, and was put on the JV team. However, when the rivals came to town, coach asked her to sit on the bench as moral support, wearing her dead brother's old jersey. Coach had seen her practicing free kicks late at night, and put her in with the game on the line in OT. Her free kick just missed the mark, but she stayed in, and eventually used a move her dad had showed her to score and win the game.
Roxburyfunny1
Judging by the trailers you know this movie is going to be a tearjerker. It did not let down. They did not though dwell on certain subjects forever meaning the story progressed and in doing so kept you locked and wanting to see the rest of it. I was really impressed and shocked to find out the family aspect behind the creating of this movie. The story was just brilliant and I've watched Carly Schroeder grow up on T.V. in Lizzie McGuire. Mean Creek is a movie that showed she can do dramatic and can do something different then Teen Television and this movie sealed the deal. Dermot Mulroney as the father was by far one of the best castings in this film. You saw his give and take and his struggle to either help or be against the obstacles in front of him. Elizabeth Shu can do no wrong. This was a the perfect role and she did not over play it. She really did have the believability of a concerned mother in the 70's. Weighing everything around her. The siblings especially Johnny were casted great as well as Kyle and Peter. They gave such a believability to their roles that you loved and hated them at the right times and you really struggle for Gracie in the since where putting yourself in her shoes and saying well I would have done this but your not Gracie and you have to stick with her and watch her triumph. I recommend this to Anyone and Everyone especially families or just mom's and daughters to watch and enjoy!~!
kpac-1
I booked this film for my local theater during a soccer tournament weekend. Having had good results in the past with Bend it Like Beckham and Goal!, I expected good crowds for what I thought was going to be a pretty good movie. This was not the case. This is more a coming of age film than a sports film and is definitely not appropriate for pre-teens. I was embarrassed to sit in the audience with my 11 year old daughter and watch scenes of teen sex in autos and alleyways. Even though nothing was actually shown, the suggestive scenes were graphic enough to prompt me to have a conversation with my daughter about proper dating behavior.Aside from my concerns about the appropriateness of the film for pre-teens, the characters were underdeveloped (e.g. no mention or development of the Dad's former soccer star status), there were continuity errors, such as using the word "suck" in an era when it was not used, and at least one half of the film was a complete downer. So much more could have been done with this story that should have felt triumphant, but didn't.
george.schmidt
GRACIE (2007) *** Carly Schroeder, Dermot Mulroney, Elisabeth Shue, Christopher Shand, Hunter Schroeder, Trevor Heins, Josh Barclay Caras, John Doman, Andrew Shue, Julia Garro, Jesse Lee Soffer. Formulaic yet well-produced sports-themed drama about a young girl (Schroeder in an exemplary role of courage) who wants to play on the high school boys' soccer team after a family tragedy prompts her to realize her own potential in a brood obsessed with the sport and the attempt for her to bond with her hard-headed, distant father (Mulroney in one of his best roles) in New Jersey circa 1978. Fun, yet earnestly determined script by Lisa Marie Petersen and Karen Janszen based on the Shue's real-life family occurrences around sister Elisabeth (who co-produced with brother Andrew who co-stars) and her own attempt to do as well in her youth. Directed with assurance by Shue's real-life husband Davis Guggenheim, the film's strengths lie in the fine assembly of acting talent, an excellent collection of '70s songs and the accurate production design by Dina Goldman.
AD
