This is a tale of redemption for both the man and the team, and writer Brad Gann and director Ericson Core stack the deck from the start: Papale loses his part-time teaching job and struggles to make ends meet as a bartender, and his wife leaves him, saying he'll never amount to anything, while the losing Eagles are booed by their own fans and mocked by sportscasters.
Cinematographer-turned-director Core never met a classic rock hit he didn't like, and he shoots every scene set in Papale's South Philly neighborhood with a soft golden hue, like nothing ever happens there except right at twilight. The opening credits play over a montage of "working-class grit" so clichéd that you expect you might be watching a commercial for beer or jeans. At one point, Eagles coach Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear) actually says of Papale, "He's got heart."
The movie does, too, but it's the same heart that's been used in too many other movies, and it's starting to look a little worn out. Perhaps what Disney needs for its next inspiring sports film is a pacemaker.