‘Invincible’ Is Heartwarming, Inspirational and ... Lacking Philadelphia Accents?

The rags-to-riches tale that ‘Invincible’ shows isn’t anything new, but this Disney movie, backed by a killer soundtrack, keeps us engaged.

C Walt Disney/Unimedia/Shutterstock

No one in this week’s Bad Football Movies crew had ever seen Invincible, though every American has seen some version of Invincible: A plucky, undersized man from the rough part of town, just recovering from rock bottom, seizes the chance of a lifetime and does something great. This is, essentially, the tale of Vince Papale, the man who attended an Eagles open tryout, hosted by rookie head coach Dick Vermeil, and ended up making the team despite only one year of high school football experience. Recently divorced, broke and reeling from a down economy, Papale does what everyone in the neighborhood believes he can’t. It's heartwarming and inspirational, and we get to see actor Greg Kinnear as Vermeil. The entire time, he's just acting like Greg Kinnear. 

Mitch Goldich

We’ve trashed just about every movie that’s come our way, so we should have hated this one. And yet, in true Disney fashion, we were all bopping around to the expensive soundtrack, and marveling at some of the attention to detail—Philadelphia accents not included—that made this 2006 film (based on the 1970s) hum along. Join us, and Mark Wahlberg’s massive chest and arm muscles, for Invincible.

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