More charming and enjoyable to watch than it deserves, primarily because the performances transcend the script flaws.
Gracie (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:88
Fresh:52
Rotten:36
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: Gracie can be rousing and touching in spots, but is ultimately undone by its predictable story arc and a lack of nuance.
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’... 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]
Starring: Carly Schroeder, Dermot Mulroney, Elisabeth Shue, Andrew Shue
Starring: Carly Schroeder, Dermot Mulroney, Elisabeth Shue, Andrew Shue, Julia Garro, Jay Patterson, Christopher Shand, Jesse Lee, Jack Walker
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Screenwriter: Karen Janszen, Lisa Marie Peterson
Producer: Davis Guggenheim, Andrew Shue, Elisabeth Shue, Lemore Syvan
Composer: Mark Isham
Studio: Picturehouse
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Reviews for Gracie
Gracie is painfully earnest, which might be OK were it not also painfully trite, painfully cliched and painfully formulaic.
Director Davis Guggenheim’s signature combination of emotional restraint and earthy visuals gives Gracie an unexpected grandeur.
The New Jersey locations and soundtrack help ground the story in a particular time and place, and Schroeder delivers a terrific performance.
There are some powerful moments (such as Elisabeth Shue, as Gracie's mother, giving a touching, unexpected speech about how she doesn't share her family's competitive spirit), and by its end Gracie earns its cheers.
Everyone who made this movie had his or her heart in the right place, even though they got so much wrong.
This more homespun film doesn't let down its story or the Shue family. Its plain integrity outshines predictability. It is feminist without cant. And Schroeder delivers perhaps the finest young female performance of the year.
Gracie's many heartfelt, well-calibrated moments, affecting performances, and evocative visual style should win over those who do give it a shot.
The movie tries a little too hard to weave in wholesome messages about how athletics can keep kids out of trouble.
Meant to be a thrilling inspiration, it only feels a little like a teacher-recommended Afterschool Special.
It's puzzling to watch someone present her own life in terms of cliché.
A nicely confident Schroeder strides though the movie as if it's a masterpiece, and Mulroney is equally charismatic. But they can't quite save Gracie from feeling like a vanity project.
For all the heartfelt emotion behind it, the movie plays out like your basic after-school special: no surprises, no suspense.
With so much invested in this film, Gracie represents the culmination of a family dream, so you can't really blame it for wearing its heart on its sleeve.
There's a tough-minded authenticity at the center of the family movie Gracie that keeps it from being just another run-of-the-mill, inspirational sports flick.
The [Shue] family's passion for the story is evident, and it shows through in a well-acted and even inspiring movie that will hold particular appeal for young female athletes.
For anyone who’s ever had an adolescent girl in the house, Gracie will be both eerily familiar and a bit scary.
Gracie, a tale about a teen girl blazing trails in soccer, is worthy, but it's also formulaic to a fault.
All the film's good intentions are still somewhat undercut by its corn content.
Latest News for Gracie
September 20, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: Jovovich vs. Alba in Multiplex Mayhem
Jodie Foster will find herself in the middle of a catfight over the number one spot this weekend. The star of current chart-topper The Brave One will face challenges from Milla... More...
June 03, 2007:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: "Pirates" #1, "Knocked Up" Strong #2
Disney still claimed the most popular film in the land with "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" despite a drop that was sizable even by tentpole standards.... More...
May 31, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: "Knocked Up" Expecting Solid Arrival
Call it the weekend of the actor/producer. Three new films with stars that do double duty behind the scenes (or have good agents that can snag a free credit) enter a marketplace... More...
May 31, 2007:
Critical Consensus: "Knocked Up" Is A Knockout; "Mr. Brooks," "Gracie" Less So
This week at the movies we've got matters of life ("Knocked Up," starring Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen), death ("Mr. Brooks," starring Kevin Costner and... More...
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