Just as basketball held a mythic appeal in small-town Indiana during the post-WWII era, soccer ruled in the St. Louis immigrant neighborhood known as the Hill. In 1950, the U.S. hastily assembled a squad to compete in the World Cup, combining feisty players from the Hill with more disciplined East Coast athletes, and sent the underdogs off to Brazil, where their improbable victory over the reigning English team is still said to be “the biggest shock” in the history of soccer (and is the stuff rousing sports movies are made of). Director David Anspaugh and screenwriter Angelo Pizzo, the winning team behind Hoosiers and Rudy, strictly hew to sports film conventions (the DVD chapter titles practically tell the story: “I Want to Be on That Team,” “Weakness Exposed,” “Team Breakdown,” “Cheers,” and “Who Would Believe?”). But, narrative fumbling aside, this adaptation of Geoffrey Douglas' book The Game of Their Lives scores with strong performances by Patrick Stewart, as the now aged reporter who covered the historic match, and Gerard Butler and Wes Bentley as the team's rival star players. In fact, by the climactic curtain call featuring actual surviving members of the 1950 team, soccer fans may even forget—if not forgive—such soccer-centric misfires as Ladybugs and Kicking & Screaming. A strong optional purchase. (D. Liebenson)[Blu-ray Review—Mar. 15, 2011—Lionsgate, 2 discs, 91 min., not rated, $19.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2000's The Miracle Maker: The Story of Jesus features a fine transfer with DTS-HD sound. Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Derek Hayes and producer Naomi Jones, a “making-of” featurette (29 min.), a storyboard-to-film comparison (3 min.), a bonus DVD copy of the film which includes the interactive games “It Is Written” and “Learning from Jesus,” and trailers. Bottom line: a winning Blu-ray debut for a solid animated family film.]
The Miracle Match
Walt Disney, 101 min., PG, DVD: $29.99 Volume 21, Issue 6
The Miracle Match
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