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Film by David Anspaugh From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Game of Their Lives (released on DVD as The Miracle Match) is a 2005 American drama film directed by David Anspaugh. The screenplay by Angelo Pizzo is based on the 1996 book of the same title by Geoffrey Douglas.
The Game of Their Lives | |
---|---|
Directed by | David Anspaugh |
Written by | Angelo Pizzo Based on the book by Geoffrey Douglas |
Produced by | Howard Baldwin Karen Baldwin Ginger T. Perkins Peter Newman |
Starring | Gerard Butler Wes Bentley Jay Rodan Gavin Rossdale Patrick Stewart Terry Kinney John Rhys-Davies |
Cinematography | Johnny E. Jensen |
Edited by | Bud S. Smith Scott Smith Ian Crafford Lee Grubin |
Music by | William Ross |
Distributed by | IFC Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 101 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $13,000,000 |
Box office | $388,998 (Worldwide) |
The film is based on the true story of the 1950 U.S. soccer team which, against all odds, beat England 1–0 in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil during the 1950 FIFA World Cup. The story is about the family traditions and passions that shaped the players who made up this team of underdogs. One group of teammates were from The Hill neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Another group came from the Corky Row district of Fall River, Massachusetts.
In September 1996, Douglas' book was published. In November 1996, the film rights to it were purchased by producer Peter Newman. Newman was unable to secure financing for production, however, and finally sold the rights to Philip Anschutz, one of the founders of Major League Soccer. Anschutz wanted to generate interest in the fledgling soccer league, and hired Pizzo to write the screenplay and Anspaugh to direct.[1]
Anspaugh was initially hesitant, thinking that the success of his previous sports films (Hoosiers and Rudy) would be difficult to top and that a film about soccer would not be warmly received in the U.S. Coincidentally, the same day that Anspaugh was approached about the film, Pizzo was discussing the 1950 match with Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer coach Jerry Yeagley.[2]
Casting began in September 2002. The actors were chosen mostly for their soccer skills. Scotsman Gerard Butler, for example, grew up playing the game, although he portrayed a goalkeeper in the film. Wes Bentley was the only major exception. American international soccer player Eric Wynalda served as a technical consultant, and another American player, John Harkes, appeared in the film.
The film only had an initial budget of $13 million, which meant that they were unable to film many scenes about the players' back-stories.[2] Principal photography took place in St. Louis, Missouri, and several of the surviving members of the U.S. 1950 World Cup frequently visited the set. Gino Pariani's son appeared in a bit role.[3]
The film was distributed by IFC Films and was released on April 22, 2005. It only grossed $388,998 worldwide, with nearly 97% of that coming from the U.S.[4]
The Game of Their Lives received mostly negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 26% based on reviews from 35 critics, and reports an average rating of 4.6 out of 10.[5] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 47% based on 13 reviews.[6]
Roger Ebert awarded the film one-and-a-half out of four stars and said, "This is a sluggish and dutiful film that plays more like a eulogy than an adventure."[7]
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