Invincible

This is one of those films that fizzles through your head quite painlessly and doesn't leave behind any unpleasant hangover. In short, a classic Disney product "for the whole family" (which always pays handsomely in overseas cinemas), touchingly transparent and predictable, with boilerplate characters; the perfect 100-minute brain off-switch. The whole thing is reliably kept in the waters of tolerability by the eternal boy Mark Wahlberg, and those who don't care for club fandom beyond the grave may be amused by the fact that American football is put in a sort of religious position here, with its worshippers spouting adorable catchphrases. Well, you tell me, is it even possible to be angry at a film where one of the characters, with a completely serious face, says to his son: “You know how I used to tell you about Van Buren scoring that touchdown back in '48? That touchdown got me through 30 years at that factory. Got me through all those times your mother being sick.” (03/01/2007)

Next to the sports films that have recently started to appear everywhere, Invincible falls into the sub-average. Peter Berg’s Friday Night Lights is visually somewhere else, Coach Carter on the other hand managed to deliver the moral in a much more entertaining way, and in general Mark Wahlberg's bartender-turned-football player is such a boring ball of nothing about how everyone in life has just their chance waiting for them to grab. It’s something we've seen a hundred times before, and mostly better. Apart from a few fairly interestingly shot scenes, basically an uninteresting football drama. (28/11/2006)

Walt Disney decided to invest in an incredible story about American football. Add in the robust Mark Wahlberg and beautiful Elizabeth Banks, and you get a completely average pleasant movie that will neither offend nor enthuse, helping you fill some time that you’d otherwise spend sleeping or just waste. (10/12/2014)

Invincible is a movie I love to revisit from time to time. I'm not usually a big fan of Mark Wahlberg, but this role suits him perfectly. Even though he's a die-hard New England Patriots fan in real life, he plays Philadelphia Eagles legend Vince Papale remarkably well. Invincible is a feel-good film that appeals even to those who aren't into American football — you don't need any deep knowledge of the sport to enjoy it. Essentially, it's a sports fairytale for anyone who loves to see the impossible happen. Since it's based on a true story, the ending isn't some over-the-top climax. Instead, it delivers the absolute pinnacle of what was realistically achievable in this scenario. It's an impressive performance that stands out in NFL history. I think Eagles fans will be quite pleased with this film. (31/05/2018)