DVD
REVIEW: GRACIE
09/14/07
The movie Gracie was
created by producer and co-star Andrew Shue, who wanted to
pay tribute to his older brother Will Shue, who died in
1988. Andrew wanted to recreate their childhood
moments together by using soccer as a backdrop. The Shue
family grew up playing soccer and Elisabeth was no the
exception. She played for her high school back in
1978. With the idea of a tribute to his brother and his
passion for soccer the story became more real and at the
same time personal, which makes this drama so different from
Disney film.
Gracie (Carly Schroeder) is
the story of a 15 year old girl, who is in search of her
dream of playing soccer. Set in time when women where
not believe to have the strength to play the game.
Gracie will have to overcome not only this society's bias
against female soccer players, but to fight to gain the
support of his father (Dermot Mulroney) who believes that
soccer is only a sport for men. Gracie will challenge her
town, her school, and her father by trying to win a spot in
the men's high school varsity soccer team. A lot will
be on the line for Gracie, her dream of being a soccer
player and the trust of her father.
A family film created
around an inspiration is interesting, but one that is done
with a story line that is touching and intelligent is
brilliant. While watching this film you are
transported to the late 70's in New Jersey needless to say
it is the details in the clothing, music, cars, etc which
sets the tone for the time in which the story takes place.
This is important considering the plot of the movie, in
which a courageous young woman is fighting against all odds
in a time when women were not allowed to play and compete in
soccer. The character of Gracie (Carly Schroeder) was
well performed by this young actress, who was able to bring
to life the frustration, anger and social issues that a girl
this age faces. However, being a movie that is set to
target young audiences it lacked the natural picaresque and
humor of movies of this type like "Bend It Like Beckham".
As a rule of thumb humor is
a great sense catcher, specially when you are trying to get
a message across to young audiences. Overall, Andrew,
John and Elisabeth Shue's goal to bring this touching and
compelling drama with a strong message for the young was
well elaborated in this movie. The biggest credit to them as
producer and actress, respectively, is that this movies
doesn't fall behind of any of the Disney films we have seen
so far. On the other hand, it serves as an inspiration
itself for all those young, low budget, innovative producers
and families like themselves that want to do films of this
genre.
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1:85) Full Screen
AUDIO:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 and
English 2.0 Stereo Surround
English & Spanish subtitles
BONUS FEATURES:
“Bringing Gracie
to Film” documentary
A
good 27 minutes documentary about the film production. The
documentary tell us all about how the film was created, cast
selection and producers ideas for the film.
A Feature commentary
with director Davis Guggenheim and another with co-star
Elisabeth Shue and producer and co-star Andrew Shue
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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