Gracie (2007)
Runtime: 2 hrs 35 mins
Theatrical Release: Jun 1, 2007 Wide
Box Office: $2,922,776
Synopsis: Set in 1978, Gracie is an inspirational film about a teenage girl who overcomes the loss of her brother and fights the odds to achieve her dream of playing competitive soccer at a time when girls’ soccer did not exist. Based on true events from the lives of the Shue family (producer and co-star... Set in 1978, Gracie is an inspirational film about a teenage girl who overcomes the loss of her brother and fights the odds to achieve her dream of playing competitive soccer at a time when girls’ soccer did not exist. Based on true events from the lives of the Shue family (producer and co-star Andrew Shue, Academy Award®-nominated actress Elisabeth Shue), the film is directed by Academy Award®-winning director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth), who happens to be part of the family as well, being married to Elisabeth Shue. The film also features a terrific 1970's soundtrack including classic songs from Boston, Blondie, Aretha Franklin, and the Boss, Bruce Springsteen. Living in South Orange New Jersey, 15 year old Gracie Bowen (Carly Schroeder) is the only girl in a family of three brothers. Their family life revolves almost entirely around soccer: her father (Dermot Mulroney) and brothers are obsessed with the sport, practicing in the backyard's makeshift field every day from morning ‘til night. Tragedy unexpectedly strikes when Gracie's older brother Johnny (Jesse Lee Soffer), star of the high school varsity soccer team and Gracie's only protector, is killed in a car accident. Struggling with grief over her family's loss, Gracie decides to fill the void left on her brother's team by petitioning the school board to allow her to play on the boy's high school varsity soccer team in his place. Her father, a former soccer star himself, tries to prove to Gracie that she is not tough enough or talented enough to play with boys. Her mother, Lindsey Bowen (Elisabeth Shue) already an outsider in the sports-obsessed family, is no help either. Undeterred, Gracie finds reserves of strength she never knew existed, and persists in changing everyone's beliefs in what she is capable of, including her own. Gracie not only forces her father to wake up from his grief and see her as the beautiful and strong person that she has always been but she also brings her family together in the face of their tragedy. -- © Picturehouse [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Carly Schroeder, Dermot Mulroney, Elisabeth Shue, Andrew Shue, Julia Garro
Screenwriter: Karen Janszen, Lisa Marie Peterson
Producer: Davis Guggenheim, Andrew Shue, Elisabeth Shue, Lemore Syvan
Composer: Mark Isham, Mark Isham
DVD Info
Release:
Sep 18, 2007
DVD Features:
- Audio Commentary: 1. Academy Award winning Director, David Guggenheim
- 2. Elisabeth Shue, Andrew Shue and John Shue.
- Featurette: "Bringing Gracie to Film"
- Theatrical Trailer
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
In addition to Carly Schroeder's performance, the highlights are its honesty, willingness to show real family struggles, and the gradual way Gracie achieves success.
A wholesome female empowerment adventure, and one very likely to resonate with youngsters of both sexes in the pre-teen crowd.
It's too bad that Gracie's story seems bent on staying on the surface of such familiar turf, rather than digging deeper to reveal what propels her.
The movie treats Gracie as a cause rather than an impassioned athlete.
Ends up more like a middling after-school special than an insightful look at family dynamics.
Bruce Springsteen has even given the film his own rare seal of approval by providing a song for the soundtrack -- something he almost never does. See that? Even the Boss likes Gracie.
[Actress Schroeder] gives Gracie a credibly rugged edge, building her into a mini-tower of blond ambition and almost rescuing the role from cliché. Almost, but not quite, not when burdened with a script so proudly rooted in uplift's trite traditions.
Though predictable at virtually every turn and almost relentlessly sentimental, Gracie ultimately establishes itself as a surprisingly moving and compelling story
It’s a nice film and the Shue family, honestly, they should be proud of what they’ve done.
Lindsay suggests -- during the inevitable mother-daughter heart-to-heart -- that Gracie persist despite the many odds because Lindsay did not.
Despite flaws, though, this stirring independent production is remarkable for its honest portrayal of a family grappling with grief and a female taking the penalty kick to score points for gender equity.
Ultimately, "Gracie" scores as a feminist inspirational sports film.
This labor of love from the Shue siblings is a better than average sports movie. More than that, it's about a family pulling together to help one member achieve her dream.
Making the team and playing in the big game grab the headlines, but the repaired relationship at the heart of Gracie shows that there are bigger prizes than kicking a ball around a field.
As labors of love go, this one is harmless enough. It's just not particularly elegant or well-crafted, or even inspiring, to be worth seeking out.
Gracie is a gentle, easygoing picture -- it's not exactly dramatically gripping, but somehow, its spirit carries it through.
Here's a little winner of a sports movie that became lost amidst the ogres and the pirates.
More charming and enjoyable to watch than it deserves, primarily because the performances transcend the script flaws.
Gracie is painfully earnest, which might be OK were it not also painfully trite, painfully cliched and painfully formulaic.
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