Invincible (2006 film)

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Invincible
Promotional poster for Invincible
Directed by	Ericson Core
Produced by	Mark Ciardi
Written by	Brad Gann
Starring	Mark Wahlberg Greg Kinnear
Distributed by	Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)	25 August 2006 (USA)
Language	English
IMDb profile

Philadelphia Portal

Invincible is a 2006 film directed by Ericson Core. It is based on the true story of Vince Papale, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles. Mark Wahlberg portrays Papale and Greg Kinnear plays Dick Vermeil, Papale's coach. The movie was released in the US on August 25, 2006.

1 Plot
2 Filming
3 Trivia
4 Inaccuracies
5 Cast
6 Box Office
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Plot

To spice things up for his organization, Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil decided to hold open tryouts for a spot on the pro football team's roster. Vince Papale is a 30-year-old bartender who has just lost his part-time teaching job. Disgusted with his professional failure, his wife abruptly leaves him, taking all of their furniture with her and leaving a note saying that he never will be anything in the world. With the support of all his friends from the neighborhood, Papale (Mark Wahlberg), goes out for an open tryout practice; catching the attention of Coach Vermeil, he is invited to come along to training camp. Papale eventually makes the team.

[edit] Filming

The preseason/tryout scenes were filmed at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Central High Lancers field during the July/August months of 2005. The crew used their locker room and field. The Lancers, who had a preseason, had to use Fairmount Park in West Philadelphia. The carnival scenes were filmed at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in South Philadelphia at 2329 South Third Street. Some of the street scenes were filmed on location in South Philadelphia on the 600 block of Sears Street. The remainder of the film was filmed in a former aircraft carrier parts warehouse on Langley Avenue in the Philadelphia Naval Business Center. They shared this facility with the floats for the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade.

[edit] Trivia

In a very short cameo appearance, the referee of the scene where Vince is playing football in the lot is actually the physical education coach of the school at the time when Vince was a track teacher.
This film shares many similarities with The Rookie, in which a former schoolteacher and high school baseball coach tries to make it to the major leagues. The main characters in both films are older than the normal rookie age. The Rookie was also based on a true story.
Though uncredited, writer Mike Rich did some polishing up of the script.
This was the second film Mark Wahlberg starred in that took place during the 1970's. The first film was Boogie Nights.
Papale's son had a cameo in the movie as the kid wearing the T-shirt with the number 83 on the back.
Papale himself also had an appearance in the movie. His cameo shows him clapping his hands in the background of an Eagles practice session. This is also shown on the bonus features in the DVD release.

[edit] Inaccuracies

There are numerous inaccuracies in the film, although non-Philadelphians would be unlikely to notice. Among them:

The real Papale was from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, and not from South Philadelphia as portrayed in the film.
While Papale did not have any college football experience, he had played professional football for the Philadelphia Bell of the now-defunct WFL in 1974 and 1975. His performance for the Bell spurred Vermeil's general manager, Jim Murray, to arrange a tryout.
In real life, while Papale did force a fumble by a New York Giants punt returner which he proceeded to run in for a touchdown, the rule at the time called it a muffed punt, which cannot be advanced by the recovering team. In addition, the punt landed further back in Giant territory in the real game, and also in addition, the real game was not as close as the movie made it look, as the Philadelphia Eagles easily beat the New York Giants in the real 1976 opener by a score of 20-7. The NFL Films footage of this actual play is part of the montage of the "real" Papale shown over the end credits of the movie.
In the film, the owner of the team is portrayed as a tough, garishly dressed, large man. Leonard Tose, the real owner of the Eagles when Papale played for the team, was a slim, debonaire bon vivant renowned for his charm and fashionable attire.
In the film, Veterans Stadium is portrayed as having external elevator towers, bench seating, and a FieldTurf playing surface. The real stadium had individual seats and (until its last years) an AstroTurf playing surface, and the external elevator towers were added concurrently with the addition of luxury boxes over a decade after the events portrayed in the film. The interior of Veterans Stadium also didn't have the tight corners shown beyond the corners of the endzone--the interior was almost round. The benches and field surface evoke Franklin Field, which (as above) was where on-field scenes were actually filmed.
In the opening football sequence the Veterans Stadium scoreboard shows a clock counting down in tenths of seconds, which didn't exist in 1975.
During the scene where Janet and Papale are discussing past players for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles, respectively, Janet lists former Giant star linebacker Sam Huff as playing the same position at West Virginia University. The NFL Hall of Famer, in fact, played defensive line for the Mountaineers before moving to linebacker as a professional.
Although Franklin Field was made to look like Veterans Stadium, the track around the field signifies that it still is in fact Franklin Field. Also, in aerial scenes, the marks of lines of other sport fields can be seen on the actual field.
Max's pub has a Yuengling Lager tap as one of its beers. Yuengling Lager was not brewed until 1987.
Quarterback Mike Boryla was in the game Papale won. Boryla only played on the team in 1978.
The scene outside Veterans Stadium where Papale talks with Coach Vermeil shows the stadium incorrectly in relation to the Walt Whitman Bridge (the green bridge in the background). In reality, Veterans Stadium was located about one mile west of the filming location, and south of I-76 (the road across the bridge), not north.

[edit] Cast

Mark Wahlberg ... Vince Papale
Greg Kinnear ... Dick Vermeil
Elizabeth Banks ... Janet Cantrell
Kevin Conway ... Frank Papale
Michael Rispoli ... Max Cantrell
Kirk Acevedo ... Tommy
Dov Davidoff ... Johnny
Michael Kelly ... Pete
Sal Darigo ... Mick
Nicoye Banks ... TJ Banks
Turron Kofi Alleyne ... Ronnie Sampson
Cosmo DeMatteo ... Dean German
Stink Fisher ... Denny Franks
Michael Mulheren ... AC Craney
Michael Nouri ... Leonard Tose
Jack Kehler ... Wade Chambers
Lola Glaudini ... Sharon Papale
Paige Turco ... Carol Vermeil
Tristan Phillips ... Richie Vermeil
Morgan Turner ... Susan Vermeil
Lynn Cohen ... Mrs. Spegnetti
James Murtaugh ... Principal

[edit] Box Office

In opening weekend the movie made approximately $17,031,122 domestically.
As of October 26th, 2006, the movie has generated an estimated $57,398,424 domestically.