Film Review

Gracie: An Authentic Tale

of Tragedy and Heroism

Soccer Film Strikes True on Many Levels

Maybe it’s predictable, given the phrase “counter culture” in this magazine’s title, but when choosing a film to watch in the theater, the wider the distribution the less we want to see it. When renting a DVD, the fewer copies on the shelf the more interested we become. It’s not that we harbor hatred for Hollywood, its

leading actors or the money men who choose which scripts get mass consumption. It’s just that we like films about real life that speak to the best in our flawed human nature.

This is how we ended up spending an afternoon with Gracie, the Davis Guggenheim/Elisabeth Shue film about a soccer-playing teen in the late 1970s who fights conventional forces trying to keep her off her high

school’s boys team. The story dates back to the time before players like Mia Hamm and our national women’s squad made soccer the most prominent of team sports for highly athletic girls. But if this was just another story of a girl who demanded to play with the boys because there was no girl’s team, it would be a ho-hum tale. A winner of the “Truly Moving Picture” Heartland Award, Gracie strikes true as it winds its way through a series of authentic emotions recognizable to anyone who has ever tried to foster family life and solidarity in our fragmented culture.

Starring Carly Schroeder as Gracie Bowen, the 15-year-old only daughter in a soccer-obsessed family of boys, Dermot Mulroney as her father and personal coach, and Ms.Shue as her mother, Gracie is a story of tragedy and against-the-odds heroism which avoids the casual assignment of black hats and white hats. There’s an authentic portrayal of grief, loss and family collapse following the sudden death of Gracie’s older brother Johnny−the star of the Bowen clan, but there’s also plenty of courage to go around−even from those who initially oppose Gracie’s desire to take Johnny’s place on the high school team. One warning: if you’re a father who ever yearned for deeper relationship with a daughter, keep a supply of tissue at hand.

The film works well on multiple levels: as a sports film it looks real, as a film about relationships between teens it feels real, and as a film about the strength of a healthy but challenged family, it gives us hope.

Gracie is just out on DVD and since its theatrical exposure was very limited, this is a chance for the entire family to enjoy something fresh. But we also believe teens will find Gracie entertaining and inspiring−even without parents or younger siblings in the room. It’s rated PG-13 based on a little bit of sexual and marijuana experimentation, but nothing is very explicit and in each case good values win out against temptation. If you’re a parent, you have to like that.

We also recommend ...

Catch and Release (2007). A PG13 comedy set in troubled times. Jennifer Garner plays a woman whose would-be husband dies on the eve of their wedding, leaving her to deal with grieving family and friends left behind. The film features strong and caring personal relationships. It shows off our tendency to think the worst before turning the plot around to reveal that people are often more decent than we fear. Does contain some not-too-explicit sexual themes some may find objectionable.

Goodnight Joseph Parker (2004). Rated R, this is a brutally realistic look at a group of people whose best days are behind them but who are still looking to restore their glory days. Unfortunately their memories of the glory days were compiled looking through the bottom of a whiskey glass. Set in a failing neighborhood bar in urban New Jersey, the award-winning movie stars Paul Sorvino and Debi Mazar in a well-acted and darkly filmed piece of art. These characters show tremendous hope and resilience where there's not much cause for it. But don't watch it if you're already feeling depressed. And don't let your kids watch it! Very harsh language!