The Game of Their Lives (2005)

Director:

David Anspaugh

Writers (WGA):

Geoffrey Douglas (book)
Angelo Pizzo (written by)

Release Date:

26 August 2005 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama | History | Sport

Tagline:

The match against England in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on June 19, 1950 was "the game of their lives".

Plot:

Based on a true story, this film tells the tale of the 1950 US soccer team who, against all odds, beat England 1 - 0 in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Although no US team has ever won a World Cup title, this story is about the family traditions and passions which shaped the lives of the players who made up this team of underdogs. |

Plot Keywords:

Brazil | World Cup | Soccer | 1950s | Reporter

Cast

Gerard Butler	...	Frank Borghi
Wes Bentley	...	Walter Bahr
Jay Rodan	...	Frank 'Pee Wee' Wallace
Gavin Rossdale	...	Stanley Mortensen
Costas Mandylor	...	Charlie 'Gloves' Columbo
Louis Mandylor	...	Gino Pariani
Zachery Ty Bryan	...	Harry Keough (as Zachery Bryan)
Jimmy Jean-Louis	...	Joe Gaetjens
Richard Jenik	...	Joe Maca
Nelson Vargas	...	John 'Clarkie' Souza
Craig Hawksley	...	Walter Giesler
Bill Smitrovich	...	Admiral Higgins
Patrick Stewart	...	Older Dent McSkimming
Terry Kinney	...	Dent McSkimming
John Rhys-Davies	...	Bill Jeffrey (as John Rhys Davies)

Also Known As:

The Miracle Match (USA) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild language and thematic elements.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-3 | Australia:G | Singapore:PG | USA:PG (certificate #40148) | Malaysia:U | Argentina:Atp | South Korea:All | Netherlands:AL | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Company:

IFC

Trivia:

Director David Anspaugh and script writer Angelo Pizzo were unhappy with studio executives, who cut their budget from $65 million to $27 million. Thus, the film's running time had to be reduced from almost 2 hours 10 minutes to 1 hour 41 minutes. Some notable exclusions were Frank "Pee Wee" Wallace as a German POW and an emotional scene of "America as a melting pot" in which the players go to Ellis Island and look up records of their ancestors. Pizzo said that only 45-50% of what he intended to be in the movie actually made it into the final cut.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the team arrives in Brazil, the game against England is constantly referred to as the team's opening game. However, in the 1950 World Cup the United States' first game was against Spain on June 25th. The game against England was played on June 29th and was the second game for the Americans.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in My Big Break (2009)

Soundtrack:

Tambo

A group of unknowns make soccer history

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.