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I really enjoy come-from-behind sports films: KARATE KID, McFARLAND USA, HOOSIERS, MIRACLE. This film's trailer had that quality.

What is delivered is a film that can't multi-task, has gaping holes and painful questions that are not resolved, and fails to strongly define an army of characters.

Act 1 starts off promising, local stare returns home and faces a town full of people who seem not to ahve moved on.

Act 2 turns into a "church fixes everything" saga, but there is a crisis situation and the main character's response -- or lack thereof -- is never explained.

Act 3 truncates a sports champion film and hangs it on the end. Sadly, there is zero resolution for the host of other characters. There is a little congratulatory cheer and then it just ends.

There are truly some likeable actors in what amount to a series of extended cameos -- there is no fabric to this film, it is not a woven piece, but a collection of bits. The actors are underserved by a script that rarely ventures below the surface; and when it tries, the effort is one-off. Listing off subplots and dramas would reveal what seems like a checklist, not an intricate interplay of realistic lives and characters.

Obviously a foreign production, many a desperate actor has gone outside the Screen Actors Guild union for work, which is grounds for expulsion or massive fines.

Neither actor has the looks which fueled his rise to fame, so the answer is "substance." While Brendan Fraser has exhibited advanced acting skills with directors such as Bill Condon or Paul Haggis, his instinctive acting choices are sadly broad and seem to rely on a physicality and youth he no longer possesses.

Tom Welling has always been an acting ingenue and didn't bother to hone his skills. While he's still a handsome man, there is no maturity. Even his verbal delivery lacks maturity.

For those who gave this stinker scores of 8 or 10, the stars are grateful to you.

I am giving it a 2: a point for trying and point out of pity.

It is sad when the most intriguing parts of a film are the vintage cars and hotel carpeting.

It's a shame the makers of this film ever invoked the name of David Bowie. It wasn't required by the script, and at the top of the film it is disclaimed as "mostly fiction."

Johnny Flynn as David Jones/Bowie presents an image I don't associate with Bowie: childish, kind of stupid, lacking direction or drive. We take a really long road trip with him and his road manager, and his flashbacks and daydreams add up to nothing much. I feel for Flynn. I think his role is poorly written and misdirected.

Mark Maron does a fine job as Oberman, Bowie's road manager. Perhaps the story would have been interesting told from hisp erspective -- what he saw and heard. Instead, the film tells about things it doesn't seem to know much about. It's mostly surface.

The parade of anecdotes lead nowhere, several music writers pass through to little effect.

Jena Malone delivers, but her wig is bad and distracting... and what happened to the big bump in her dress? I guess we'll never know. Nothing unites her character while pregnant with the slender post-birth iteration.

This film does not excel at complete ideas.