Gracie

This is the movie's title in Italy "My Greatest Dream". And the title says the truth: playing soccer in a male team for a girl is unthinkable, at least here in Europe.

The movie is quite well acted, Carly is fine and the rest of the crew does a god job. But the script does not work. Period. The screenplay communicates a false (and quite dangerous) message: everybody can do what they dream to do if they apply enough and is not discouraged, doesn't matter how difficult is the task.

What if Gracie had liked to play football or baseball or basketball in a male team? Or boxing against male boxers?

Carly Schroeder has made, with this little film, perhaps the most pure-hearted big screen debut I've ever seen. The only other movie I can think of to rival this is "Whale Rider" and Keisha Castle-Hughes performance. But I really think Carly has the edge here. It's as if she's plucked a dream out of the ether and made it palpable. It's what the great actresses do, and I'm betting this woman could easily outdo every major name out there, given the chance. She's instantly likable and she transmits emotions through her face, voice, and body like she was born to convince you of her champion heart.

This is not an easy role. It's quite physical and most women have a deep dislike for exercise and even competition. After all, women are like dune buggies; men are like Mack trucks. But the truth is soccer can be played and won with finesse and heart, though it takes a special sort. Someone who can bring a deft touch to her play just when she should be exhausted and beaten. And there's no question in my mind none of the current crop of starlets would have struggled to do half the job that Carly does here. There are very few camera tricks that only imply physicality in the direction, instead it's all there for real, in a way that completely blew me away. These people believed in this film and it's paid off big time.

No, Hollywood is not quite as astute or clever as it thinks it is, so Carly's future can't be assured. But if there were ever a promising beginning, this is it. This is one beautifully acted and directed movie that I'm very sorry I didn't see when it first came out. I've no idea why it's not rated higher here. With all the ugliness we have to contend with, you'd think these armchair critics would be forced to let a breath of fresh air in. I'm guessing they're too far gone. I, on the other hand, think Carly has created, out of an impossibly pure and quite visible heart, one of the most memorable and believable female heroines I have ever seen.

This movie is inspired by (and thus LOOSELY based) on producer/actress Elisabeth Shue's life. So coming from the fact its producers are actual soccer players, I wanted to love it. I didn't love it, but I did like it.

While this movie is a "soccer" movie, in my eyes, it is really a movie more about a family - esp. the main character Gracie - dealing with the death of a loved one (her brother). It shows how different characters deal or avoid dealing with their grief. Gracie eventually turns to one of the things she used to love to share with her brother - soccer. Soccer is also something that her dad and her brother shared, so Gracie and her dad reconnect through the sport.

As a drama addressing the challenge of growing up as a female athlete a few decades earlier, I give it an 7.5/10. Some people on this Message Board want to bash it as a man-hating message, but you have to remember that this movie is NOT trying to represent girls' athletics today - in 2007. It is representing how it was practically 30 years ago, when it WAS tough to have an equal shot at sports. They did a decent job.

As a drama dealing with death, I give it an 8/10. A lot of the character's grief is portrayed through action, not dialogue, which worked pretty well. However, with so much build-up, I was waiting for more of an emotional punch and it didn't quite come full circle.

As soccer movie, I give it a 7/10. Given that I love soccer, I'm probably harshest on that. I will say the soccer is more realistic than a lot of soccer movies out there. But they definitely take some creative license with the rules of the game. There seems to be a lot of irresponsible coaches and ref's in this movie. The parking lot/backlot soccer seems most realistic to me.

If you like soccer OR dramas, I recommend this movie.

Believe it or not, this story is partly based (and I think very loosely) on the real, early, life of actress Elisabeth Shue, who grew up playing soccer with boys. She herself also plays a role in this movie. There are actually a whole lot of more of her family members involved with this movie in one way or another, so you can really call this a Shue movie. Nothing wrong with that of course but it makes it just a bit all the more weird that the message at the end of the movie claims that female soccer in America was not accepted and didn't even exists, till there was Gracie, or should I say Lizzy Shue. But I don't hold this against the movie. The movie already has enough problems on its own as it is.

It's not a bad movie but I still really had tons of problems with it. First one is really its story. All of the drama and emotions feel very forced in and manipulative but even worse is that it's so incredibly formulaic and predictable. So, it's a movie about a girl who tries to make it to the boys soccer team at school...jeez, you think she will make it or not? But everything else that happens in between is also very predictable. It's really a movie by the numbers, which is not necessarily a bad thing if it got done right. And yes, the movie still does a lot of things right but its story and storytelling really prevent this movie from standing out in any way.

One of the things I also really didn't liked about the story was that it never felt realistic in any way. It was crazy how everybody was against Gracie playing soccer and saying silly stuff like 'grils can't play' or 'she is not good or though enough for the game'. But it was even more silly how all of the characters kept on switching back and forth with their opinions. The one moment someone was being really against the idea, while the other he or she is suddenly being very supportive and all for it. But this happens with no apparent reason, which was really annoying to be honest.

I must say it also didn't helped the movie very much that the acting in this movie was really below par.

The story can perhaps be understand and appreciated better if you understand that this movie was supposed to be set in the '70's, when girls at schools just had less choice on what to do with their lives and what sports to pick. I say this, because it really isn't apparent at all within this movie that it was supposed to be set in the '70's. All you basically see are some old cars but there is very little else to indicate that the story is supposed to be set in the '70's. So bad film-making in that regard, though this can also be put on its low budget of course.

But a more positive thing about this movie is the way the soccer matches are being portrayed. What I liked was that it showed the game as the tough and hard game that it can be and you also don't necessarily have to understand the rules of the game to watch this film. It doesn't ever get into any technical details or tactics, which makes this movie accessible to watch for basically everybody.

You will perhaps like this movie better if you're a young girl with dreams but to me this movie was just being very average and I think I'm still being very kind to rate this movie still as 'highly' as I do because the more I think about this movie, the less I'm starting to like it.

5/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

i enjoyed this movie.i thought it was pretty good from an entertainment point of view.however,i didn't fee it was very inspirational and for me,it didn't have the impact that many of the movies of the genre have.i didn't find anything profound about it.i think it may be loosely inspired by real events,which could mean anything as far as movies go.i could not really get into it beyond a superficial level.i'm not sure why.maybe it's because i'm not a real soccer fan.having said that,it was well acted,and well paced.it certainly wasn't boring,by any means.the songs they chose for the movie were also really good.i would probably watch this movie again down the road,though,because as i said,it's enjoyable as entertainment.for me,Gracie is a 7/10