Despite some Covid warnings, we returned to the Cinemark and had a wonderful experience at the theatre and could easily have stayed to “re-watch” the movie, because it was interesting, heart-warming, well-acted, and true! And, it took place not too far from here in the city of Fort Worth.
(Based upon Jim Dent’s non-fiction book, called Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites, Who Ruled Texas Football)
The viewing time (after the previews and advertisements) is right at two hours, and the rating is PG-13, even though I thought it could have been just a PG (violence, language, smoking, some suggestive references, and brief teen drinking). However, my wife said she thought it was probably too intense for children under eleven years, and that she was shocked that she had been the one to say that instead of me (usually the more conservative one)!
We also really enjoyed the sensitivity/perception brought to the set by Dallasite, Luke Wilson, who plays the coach who left a great successful job in a “winning” situation to “start all over again” with what most people would have turned down as an impossible task at an orphanage (Masonic School for Orphans) with no field, no team, and no uniforms or equipment! And, he was admirably aided by the acting of another of my favorites, Mar-tin Sheen, the Doctor!
The time is “post-Depression,” and I left the Cinemark with a new “pep in my step” and a desire to go out and help others less fortunate than I— and from our discussions of the movie and its contents on the way home, Vivian (usually the more sensitive of the two of us) felt the same way or maybe even more strongly!
To put it briefly, a “good man“ coach, who has demons of his own from family and war times, takes on a scrawny, scraggly, sometimes downtrodden bunch of orphans and somehow leads them to some victories and leads many former “cheer against them” folks to join in the frenzy that cheers them on—even the President! I won’t tell you how many victories and losses, but my wife and I cheered out loud as the movie was in progress. Luckily, no one complained or had us “kicked out.”
The partial cast of actors includes Vinessa Shaw (Coach’s wife, Juanita Russell), Wayne Knight (Frank Wynn), Jake Walker (Hardy Brown—You will “love” him.), Jacob Lofland (Snoggs), Levi Dylan (Fairbanks), Robert Duvall (Mason Hawk), Martin Sheen (Doc Hall), Sampley Barinaga (Chicken), and, of course as I mentioned earlier, Luke Wilson (Coach Rusty Russell).
Professional critics, who seem too often to look literarily with a “fine tooth comb” for things about which to complain, rate this film as “average,” but what I consider REAL critics, who care about what the public likes and wants, give this film a positive rating of 80% or higher! To be specific, one popular rating site showed a critical rating of about 60% and an audience rating of 96%. My wife and I agree with the latter and recommend you either hurry to see this at some big screen cinema or have it shown on your big screen at home! And, don’t miss the opening; get your popcorn and sodas and take your RR break before you sit down and get comfortable!
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