12 Mighty Orphans: Historical Sports Drama

Movie Review: 12 Mighty Orphans (2021) on Starz 😥

There are lots of feel-good movies about beleaguered sports teams with the guts and will to win amazing seasons. None are as thrilling as 12 Mighty Orphans. (See movie trailer below.)

    That said...

    Bittersweet is the film 12 Mighty Orphans, a true story of 12 orphans in pre-Great Depression Texas who play heroic, sport-changing high school football. They beat all but one team till the championship game at the end. Then they hold that team to one goal. With seconds to go... 

    Orphans also have one goal but no extra point, and they have the ball within scoring range as the clock ticks down to zero. It's a dramatic finish. No spoiler here, you have to see the film to learn the result. I will say my jaw dropped about a foot when I saw it. That's all I'll say.

    It was a great film. It had a lot of heart. It was well told. The characters were wonderful—even the really, really, really bad guy, Frank Wynn (played by perennial character actor Wayne Knight) was a delight to watch be full-out evil. Luke Wilson is tremendous as the head coach, Rusty Russell. Martin Sheen is a memorable defensive coach and team doctor, Doc Hall. Good stuff!

    What those kids had to put up with in real life was despicable. Rusty Russel, Doc Hall, and their fans lifted their lives. And those kids went on to do great things. All the elements of this true story make this a very watchable film, a remarkable story, a resoundingly great feel-good story. Till the end. Maybe you'll find a reason to like the end better than I did. Maybe it will be the wrap-up titles at the end telling what happens to many of the characters in their later lives.

    Give it a try.

Here's the movie trailer via YouTube:

The Goldfinch: Well Done Pultizer Prize Winning Fiction of Depth

Movie Review: The Goldfinch (2019)

Version: Amazon Prime

Based on the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name, The Goldfinch is the spellbinding tale of a boy haunted by the death of his mother in a terrorist bombing of a New York City art museum and the painting that connects him to it.

The film features a delicate weave of layers between today and yesterday, of young, innocent Theo Decker (Oakes Fegley) and today's scheming Theo (Ansel Elgort), mastering a deeply held secret that he is somehow at fault for his mother's death. He takes that feeling of guilt with him into adulthood and his friendships, ever afraid to fail others and to lose the painting he secretly rescues from the bombed museum but ultimately fails to return to its rightful owners, even as it imperils him later. The name of the painting, which has survived centuries of devastation of its own, is "The Goldfinch"

Theo Decker is an amazing character, but he plays against an interesting array of side characters, too, to make The Goldfinch a compelling watch. There is the family that brings him into its fold when he is first orphaned, shepherded by his school friend's mother Mrs. Barbour (Nicole Kidman). At first he's a nuisance, but they come to like and then accept him as one of their own. Nicole Kidman somehow seems kind of creepy in the role. Then there's Theo's deadbeat dad Larry (Luke Wilson), who just as the Barbours are about to adopt Theo shows up to take him to Las Vegas to chew him up and spit him out over his own failings. The most endearing characters are Hobie (Jeffrey Wright), the antique store owner who finds a place in his heart and a room in his home for a lost Theo, not to mention a place for the future, and Boris (Finn Wolfhard in youth, Aneurin Barnard as adult), who is Theo's best friend. They make the story come to life and ultimately help Theo free "The Goldfinch" and Theo.

There are many surprises in this film, not the least comes at the end. Tying all the pieces together is done masterfully, but you have to be patient watching the timelines shift back and forth, although The Goldfinch does a better job at this than most films featuring flashbacks and flash forwards. Be patient -- it is worth it. I promise, it will be worth it.

I can see why the book won a Pulitzer for fiction. I'll be reading the book as soon as I can get my hands on it. This is a great story and the movie is worth viewing. Well done!

Rock Dog: Good Family Entertainment with a Good Message

Movie Review: Rock Dog (2016)
Version: Library borrow

It's not often you run into a Tibetan Mastiff who dreams of becoming a rock star. That's the plot behind the enjoyable animated film Rock Dog.

Bodi (played by Luke Wilson) lives in the snow capped mountains among his Tibetan brethren, when a radio falls from the sky, awakening his dream. He leaves for the big city in the lowlands below, where he meets a wily cast of urban characters, including a gang of hungry wolves, a disparate group of street musicians, and a reclusive rock star.

Bodi is working on getting his big break with the hope of getting a music lesson from rock star Angus Scattergood (played by Eddie Izzard), when he is hunted down by the gang of wolves, who want Bodi to lead them to his home with defenseless sheep. He is supported by four hapless street musicians played by Kenan Thompson as Riff, Mae Whitman as Darma, Jorge Garcia as Germur, and Matt Dillon as Trey. Bodi pursues a reluctant Scattergood, who is working on his next big release but is having a major creative block, when he hears Bodi playing a self-written tune he likes. Then the wolves find Bodi and mayhem breaks out as the everyone is out to get Bodi.

This isn't the best movie in the world, but it has a terrific ending, and who can resist the comedic voice talents of Eddie Izzard and Lewis Black as the bad guy, head wolf Linnux. Rock Dog makes good family entertainment for any age, and it has a good message.