The Game of Their Lives (2005 film)
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''The Game of Their Lives'' (released on DVD as ''The Miracle Match'') is a 2005 American
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
David Anspaugh David Anspaugh (born September 24, 1946) is an American television and film director. Professional career After earning a bachelor's degree from Indiana University Bloomington, Anspaugh moved to Aspen, Colorado, where he worked as a substitute t ...
. The screenplay by
Angelo Pizzo Angelo Pizzo () is an American screenwriter and film producer, usually working on films based on a true story, and usually about athletics. He is best known for '' Hoosiers'' and '' Rudy.'' Biography Early life and education Pizzo grew up in ...
is based on the 1996 book of the same title by Geoffrey Douglas.


Plot

The film is based on the true story of the 1950 U.S. soccer team which, against all odds, beat
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
1–0 in the city of
Belo Horizonte, Brazil Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...
during the
1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...
. The story is about the family traditions and passions that shaped the players who made up this team of underdogs. One group of teammates were from The Hill neighborhood of
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
. Another group came from the Corky Row district of
Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
.


Cast

*
Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as ''Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never Di ...
as
Frank Borghi Frank Borghi (April 9, 1925 – February 2, 2015) was an American soccer player who earned nine caps at goalkeeper for the national team. He played in the team's famous 1–0 victory against England in the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Athletic career ...
(from St. Louis) *
Wes Bentley Wesley Cook Bentley is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Ricky Fitts in '' American Beauty'' (1999), which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Supporting Actor; Seneca Crane in ''The Hunger Games'' (2012); Doyle i ...
as
Walter Bahr Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...
(from Philadelphia) *Jay Rodan as Frank Wallace (from St. Louis) *
Gavin Rossdale Gavin McGregor Rossdale (born 30 October 1965) is an English guitarist and actor, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush. He helped form Bush in 1992; on the band's separation in 2002, he became the lead singer ...
as Stanley Mortensen (on visiting English team) *
Costas Mandylor Costas Mandylor (born Konstantinos Theodosopoulos; 3 September 1965) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Kenny in ''Picket Fences'' and for portraying Mark Hoffman in the ''Saw'' films. Early life Mandylor was born i ...
as
Charlie Colombo Charles Martin Colombo (July 20, 1920 – May 7, 1986) was an American soccer player who earned 11 caps as center-half for the United States men's national soccer team. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He also played for the ...
(from St. Louis) *
Louis Mandylor Louis Mandylor (born Elias Theodosopoulos; 13 September 1966) is an Australian film and television actor. Mandylor played Nick Portokalos in ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), a role he reprised in the sequel ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2'' (2 ...
as
Gino Pariani Virginio Peter Pariani (February 21, 1928 – May 9, 2007) was an American soccer striker. He earned 5 caps and scored 1 goal for the United States men's national soccer team, and played on the 1950 FIFA World Cup team, including the U.S. team ...
(from St. Louis) *
Zachery Ty Bryan Zachery Ty Bryan (born October 9, 1981) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for his role as Brad Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement''. He also appeared in the films ''True Heart'' and '' The Fast and the Furious: To ...
as
Harry Keough Harry Joseph Keough (November 15, 1927 – February 7, 2012) was an American soccer defender who played on the United States national team in their 1–0 upset of England at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. He spent most of his club career in his ...
(from St. Louis) *
Jimmy Jean-Louis Jimmy Jean-Louis (born August 8, 1968) is a Haitian actor and producer. Born in Pétion-Ville, he moved to Paris at a young age with his family in search of a better life. His early roles were in French television commercials and Spanish musical ...
as
Joe Gaetjens Joseph Edouard Gaetjens ( ; , 1924 – , 1964 resumed was a soccer player who played as a center forward. Born in Haiti, he also played one match for Haiti in a World Cup qualifier against Mexico before switching to represent the United ...
(from Haiti) * Richard Jenik as
Joe Maca Joseph Andre Maca (September 28, 1920 – July 13, 1982) was an American soccer player who earned three caps as left back for the United States men's national soccer team and played in the United States' 1–0 defeat of England in the 1950 FIFA ...
*
Nelson Vargas Nelson Vargas (born August 6, 1974) is an American former soccer player and coach. Vargas spent five seasons in Major League Soccer and earned four caps with the United States men's national soccer team. He was also a member of the U.S. soccer ...
as
John Souza John Souza-Benavides (July 12, 1920 – March 11, 2012) known as John "Clarkie" Souza, was an American soccer player who earned 14 caps and scored 2 goals for the United States men's national soccer team, and played in the U.S. team's histor ...
* Nino Da Silva as
Eddie Souza Edward Souza-Neto (September 22, 1921 – May 19, 1979) was an American soccer player who earned at least 7 caps and scored 3 goals for the United States men's national soccer team, and played in the U.S. team's historic 1–0 victory over Eng ...
*
John Harkes John Andrew Harkes (born March 8, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former professional player who is the head coach of Greenville Triumph SC. A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Harkes was the first American ever to play in the ...
as
Ed McIlvenny Edward Joseph McIlvenny (21 October 1924 – 18 May 1989) was a Scottish footballer, who most notably captained the United States national team in their 1–0 upset of England in the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Early years McIlvenny learned to play ...
*
Bill Smitrovich William Stanley Zmitrowicz Jr. (born May 16, 1947), known professionally as Bill Smitrovich ( ), is an American actor. Personal life Smitrovich was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Anna (née Wojna) and Stanley William Zmitrowicz, a t ...
as Admiral Higgins *
Terry Kinney Terry Kinney (born January 29, 1954) is an American actor and theater director, and is a founding member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, with John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Sinise, and Jeff Perry. Kinney is best known for his role as E ...
as
Dent McSkimming Florence Dent Archibald McSkimming (October 17, 1896 – July 13, 1976) was an American sportswriter for several St. Louis newspapers. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1951. McSkimming was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Geo ...
*
Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actor ...
as Older Dent McSkimming *
John Rhys-Davies John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor best known for portraying Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. His other roles include Michael Malone in the 1993 series ''The Untoucha ...
as
Bill Jeffrey Sir William Alexander Jeffrey, KCB (born 28 February 1948) is a former senior British civil servant, who retired in the autumn of 2010. Jeffrey was educated at Allan Glen's School, Glasgow, and the Glasgow University. He joined the Home Offic ...
* Tim Vickery as BBC Announcer


Production

In September 1996, Douglas' book was published. In November 1996, the film rights to it were purchased by producer Peter Newman. Newman was unable to secure financing for production, however, and finally sold the rights to
Philip Anschutz Philip Frederick Anschutz ( ; born December 28, 1939) is an American billionaire businessman who owns or controls companies in a variety of industries, including energy, railroads, real estate, sports, newspapers, movies, theaters, arenas and m ...
, one of the founders of
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
. Anschutz wanted to generate interest in the fledgling soccer league, and hired Pizzo to write the screenplay and Anspaugh to direct. Anspaugh was initially hesitant, thinking that the success of his previous sports films ('' Hoosiers'' and ''
Rudy Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...
'') would be difficult to top and that a film about soccer would not be warmly received in the U.S. Coincidentally, the same day that Anspaugh was approached about the film, Pizzo was discussing the 1950 match with
Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer The Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer team represents Indiana University Bloomington. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. By any number of indicators, the Hoosiers are the most successful c ...
coach
Jerry Yeagley Jerry Yeagley (born January 10, 1940 in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Lebanon, Pennsylvania) is a former soccer player and coach. He was the coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer team from 1973 to 2003. His teams won six NCAA Men's Soccer Championsh ...
. Casting began in September 2002. The actors were chosen mostly for their soccer skills. Scotsman
Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as ''Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never Di ...
, for example, grew up playing the game, although he portrayed a goalkeeper in the film.
Wes Bentley Wesley Cook Bentley is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Ricky Fitts in '' American Beauty'' (1999), which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Supporting Actor; Seneca Crane in ''The Hunger Games'' (2012); Doyle i ...
was the only major exception. American international soccer player
Eric Wynalda Eric Boswell Wynalda (born June 9, 1969) is an American soccer coach, television commentator, and retired player. He was formerly an analyst and color commentator for soccer coverage on Fox Sports 1 and ESPN. Previously, he served as head coach ...
served as a technical consultant, and another American player,
John Harkes John Andrew Harkes (born March 8, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former professional player who is the head coach of Greenville Triumph SC. A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Harkes was the first American ever to play in the ...
, appeared in the film. The film only had an initial budget of $13 million, which meant that they were unable to film many scenes about the players' back-stories.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
took place in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, and several of the surviving members of the U.S. 1950 World Cup frequently visited the set.
Gino Pariani Virginio Peter Pariani (February 21, 1928 – May 9, 2007) was an American soccer striker. He earned 5 caps and scored 1 goal for the United States men's national soccer team, and played on the 1950 FIFA World Cup team, including the U.S. team ...
's son appeared in a bit role.


Release


Theatrical run

The film was distributed by
IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its S ...
and was released on April 22, 2005. It only grossed $388,998 worldwide, with nearly 97% of that coming from the U.S.


Reception

''The Game of Their Lives'' received mostly negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gives the film a score of 26% based on reviews from 35 critics, and reports an average rating of 4.6 out of 10. At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 47% based on 13 reviews.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
awarded the film one-and-a-half out of four stars and said, "This is a sluggish and dutiful film that plays more like a eulogy than an adventure."


Historical inaccuracies

*The film strongly implies that the St.Louis players and East Coast players first came together during a trial game portrayed in film. However several of the players had previously represented the United States at the 1949 NAFC Championship, a tournament which had acted as a 1950 FIFA World Cup qualifier. This tournament is never mentioned in film. * The game played against England was actually the second match that the US had played in the 1950 World Cup. They had been defeated four days before by Spain (3-1). *Scotsman
Ed McIlvenny Edward Joseph McIlvenny (21 October 1924 – 18 May 1989) was a Scottish footballer, who most notably captained the United States national team in their 1–0 upset of England in the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Early years McIlvenny learned to play ...
was edited out of the captaincy he held in the match against England, as the producers of the film decided to give the position of captain to American-born
Walter Bahr Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...
. Bahr commented, "I was captain for about 10 years including the 1950 World Cup. But when we got to Brazil the first game was against
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
and since my teammate
Harry Keough Harry Joseph Keough (November 15, 1927 – February 7, 2012) was an American soccer defender who played on the United States national team in their 1–0 upset of England at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. He spent most of his club career in his ...
spoke Spanish, they made him captain. Against England, our coach
Bill Jeffrey Sir William Alexander Jeffrey, KCB (born 28 February 1948) is a former senior British civil servant, who retired in the autumn of 2010. Jeffrey was educated at Allan Glen's School, Glasgow, and the Glasgow University. He joined the Home Offic ...
, who was also Scottish-born, thought it would be a big feather in Eddie's cap to be captain. It was an honor for him and I think that was the proper thing to do. I was then captain for the last game against
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and for years to come. Yet in the film I'm captain, and that's wrong. I know Eddie's widow lives in East Sussex, and it is important she should know that an error has been made and Eddie really was the captain against England." McIlvenny's widow, Sheila, was reported as saying: "It's disappointing, but what do you expect from Hollywood?...It is not the true story, not at all. I think he cIlvennywould have accepted it, but I don't think he would have been happy with it because it wasn't the truth". *
Joe Gaetjens Joseph Edouard Gaetjens ( ; , 1924 – , 1964 resumed was a soccer player who played as a center forward. Born in Haiti, he also played one match for Haiti in a World Cup qualifier against Mexico before switching to represent the United ...
was of mixed German-Haitian descent and had a lighter skin complexion than the actor portraying him. He also didn't practice
voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...
, but, like most Haitians he was Catholic. *It was actually
Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...
, not Stanley Mortensen who was part of the team that was travelling through North America prior to the World Cup. However, he did not play in the game against the U.S. in New York because of injury. Furthermore, the touring team won with a score of 1–0; it was not a rout as depicted in the film Also in the after-dinner speech Mortensen is congratulated on his feat of scoring three goals in the FA Cup final, a feat that he accomplished in 1953. *Joe Gaetjens was not the only player not to have a U.S. passport available, since Joseph Maca and Ed McIlvenny were Belgian and Scottish respectively. Maca did however obtain U.S. nationality a few years later. *In fact the U.S. was listed in the odds for winning the tournament (they were listed as 500–1). *The attendance of the England-U.S. game was just over 10,000, not 30,000. Though this still was a much bigger crowd than the U.S. players were used to, several of them (namely Bahr, Borghi, Colombo, Keough, John Souza and Wallace) had played in front of crowds up to 60,000 spectators during the 1949 NAFC Championship in Mexico, so this crowd wasn't the biggest they had ever played in front of. *The reason Stanley Matthews was omitted from the England squad was because
Arthur Drewry Arthur Drewry (3 March 1891 – 25 March 1961) was an English football administrator who served as the fifth president of FIFA, the world governing body of association football, from 1955 to 1961. Drewry had held several football administration ...
, head of the English
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
, decided to keep the same team that had won against Chile, not because "he was taking a holiday in Rio". Matthews was in fact present in the stadium in Belo Horizonte during the game. *Frank Borghi is seen to be taking several goal kicks throughout the film, though he stated that never actually did this, as he always threw the ball or let another player take the goal kick. *An older Dent McSkimming is seen at the beginning of the film at the 2004 MLS All-Star Game, when in reality McSkimming had died in 1976.


Further reading

*


References


External links


Official website
Dead *
The Game Of Their Lives
at
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Game of Their Lives, The 2005 films 2000s sports drama films American sports drama films Sports films based on actual events Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by David Anspaugh Films set in 1950 Films set in Brazil Films set in St. Louis Films about the FIFA World Cup 1950 FIFA World Cup England at the 1950 FIFA World Cup United States at the 1950 FIFA World Cup Films scored by William Ross Films shot in St. Louis 2005 drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films