Le match de leur vie

If you enjoy soccer, you'll really like this movie about USA underdogs playing the Brits, the best in the world in 1950. The audience I was with consisted of adults and kids in soccer uniforms. The movie drew cheers and applause especially during the final confrontation. Gerard Butler as the great goalkeeper Frank Borghi really gives this movie heart and soul. The actors were chosen for their ability to actually play soccer so the game sequences are very realistic. Butler especially throws his body into a bone-crunching depiction of a goalkeeper with the heart of a lion.

You don't have to be know much about soccer to enjoy this movie. I highly recommend it to everyone who likes an exciting movie and wonderful acting. Three cheers!

I very much enjoyed this movie. The return in time to 1950 was well done & very realistic. The movie did a nice job of recreating one of the most forgotten episodes in USA sports history. There is one thing I would have liked to have seen and that would have been an 'epilogue' at the end of the film stating what these players did with the rest of their lives. This is what was done at the end of movies such as 'Chariots of Fire' and 'American Graffiti'. I do know that Walter Bahr ended up as the soccer coach at Penn State. I know that Harry Keough was the soccer coach at St. Louis U. when they won five NCAA titles. It would have been nice to see these kind of summaries about all of the featured players.

This is a super story with lots of human interest and great soccer footage. Teaches you some sports history that most of the world is unfamiliar with -- especially since most Americans don't think the U.S. HAS a soccer history.

The acting is pretty darn good. They strayed a bit from some of this historical truth -- the Haitian guy was NOT into voodoo. But I guess that's par for the course in any movie. Would have like to know what happened to everyone following the game that is highlighted in the movie, as well as which team won the 1950 World Cup. But it made me go out and do some research -- always a good thing.

Definitely worth watching.

First and foremost, I'm hardly a soccer expert and barely a soccer fan so this commentary comes strictly from a movie fan and a fan who enjoys critiquing films. That said, I found The Game of Their Lives to be a solid film. It's a product of the same mind that brought us "Rudy" and "Hoosiers" and one can expect similar results. It tells the tale of the 1950 US World Cup team that shockingly beat England (though did not win the World Cup itself) It begins in St Louis, providing backgrounds and insight into the lives and families of the St Louisians who later will be on the World Cup Team.

Strong performances from Wes Bentley and Gerard Butler lead this film to the final victory. Bentley and Butler portray the leaders of the team (Walter Bahr and Frank Borghi, respectively) with likability and believability. The supporting cast that rounds out the team also turn out performances that will keep you involved with wanting to route for this team. Don't expect an electric atmosphere, however, as this story is told from a reporter reminiscing.

The Game of Their Lives offers character development for the team members without ever straying from the subject at hand. Through their actions on and off the field, the audience can get a taste for who these men were. Much homage and respect is also deservingly paid to England for their magnificent history in the sport. This is not one of those ports films that serves to make the United States seem over glorious and under mind the greatness of England, as many assume it will. I for one walked away from this film with a greater respect for England and what they've done, and continue to do, for the sport

My soccer team and our coach (all St. Louis Public High people) decided to go see Game of Their Lives today, opening day. We went to the Chase, one of the three theaters in the area where the movie was playing. We were hyped no matter what - It was the weekend and we were a bunch of teenage girls going to go see a movie. None of us actually expected a great movie though. We were happily surprised though.

The movie started off introducing the tale - the who, what, where, when, and whys of it all. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch journalist, Dent McSkimming, retells this information and relays us back to 1950. We are introduced to the St. Louis members of the team in a rather amusing manner, in which the team gathers from such venues as a funeral... They gather down at the Hill (where a good deal of the film was filmed), and play a game. For soccer fans, these scenes are really fun to watch, and wonder how the scenes must have been choreographed. It really is amazing.

In addition to the St. Louis members, there are East Coasters who join the team. The team ends up being rather segregated between the two groups. The teams are brought together by the leaders from each side, Walter Bahr (the amazing Wes Bentley) and Frank Borghi (the equally amazing Gerard Butler). The two have a great on screen chemistry, especially when they go to recruit Joe Gatjaens (played by Jimmy Jean-Louis).

The whole cast is amazing, but none more so than the three fore-mentioned actors who really truly seemed to become the soccer player they were portraying. It was a lot of fun to cheer with the rest of the theater every time Frank (Mr. Butler) stops the ball, or when Joe (Mr. Jean- Lewis) scores the game winning goal against the Brits. Jay Rodan is also particularly amusing as "Pee-Wee" Wallace. It's hard not to like the characters you're supposed to like (and equally as hard not to dislike the ones you're supposed to dislike, such as Gavin Rossdale as Stanley Mortensen).

It was also fun to sit in a theater filled with people who were actually in the movie. The Chase was packed with extras who were eager to cheer out every time they were on screen. The man sitting next to our coach plays the barber in the very beginning of the film and told us to cheer for him when he came on. So of course we did. Then, as soon as his part was over, he stood up and said 'All right, that's it for me' and left. It was absolutely hilarious. The man in front of us had pictures of him and Gerard Butler at the Premier, which was held in St. Louis. This film has been something that has united St. Louisans, and anyone from the city should go see it. It is an amazing deal of fun to see the little car place across from Adrianna's (home of the best sandwich in the city) and the field up at Soldan High, or the Bocce field on the Hill. It shows the real St. Louis.

All in all, this was an amazing movie that everyone should see, especially those from St. Louis and those who have ever played or watched soccer. It's a great story no matter what. And the film isn't too long either... So if you don't like it - well, you don't have to sit through it for too long (now that's what I call logic).

9/10 stars (I just can't call it perfect... Awfully close though.)