Gracie
Gracie is very much
a labor of love.
Put together by acting
siblings Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas, Adventures in Babysitting)
and Andrew Shue (Melrose Place), directed as the first fictional film
of her documentarian husband, Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth)
it is a celluloid tribute to the Shues' late brother who died when
they were younger.
The film is loosely based
on their experiences growing up and playing soccer (sorry, football for our
readers outside of the United States) in the suburbs of North Jersey.
The main character of Gracie has its seeds in Elisabeth's late 70s fight to
be a part of the local high school's boys soccer team. (She eventually
moved on to acting, becoming a movie star with The Karate Kid in 1984).
Elisabeth Shue now plays the character based on her mother. Andrew
who also grew up around the team plays a sympathetic coach.
Of course, good intentions
do not always translate to a good movie. Luckily, Gracie IS a
good movie. A very good movie, in fact. It's not exactly the
most original storyline out there in fact in many ways it is a treads the
same ground as most sports-themed films ever made but it is filmed with
conviction and passion and makes its points with economy and style.
It also has as a strong
anchor in a star-making (or at least it should be) performance by Carly
Schroeder as Gracie, a young girl in the late 70s who idolizes her older
brother. When he is killed in an auto accident the day after missing a
shot in the big game, Gracie is determined to take his place on the team.
Dermot Mulroney gives and
understated supporting turn as her father who never quite believes in
Gracie as much as he does his boys. Still, he is a loving if not
always thoughtful parent, and in the end he tries to have her back and help
her capture her dreams.
Gracie
is not going to change the world or shock many people, but there is a place
in the world for a nice little film to tell small, compelling stories about
finding our dreams.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2007 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved.
Posted: September 16, 2007.
