Sports Film Reaction Paper Invincible is a film based on the true story of lifetime eagle fan Vince Papale. This film takes place in 1976 in Philadelphia, which is going through a recession, and the Eagles are being booed of the field. Vince is playing football with a group of his friends on a street field. You then find out that Vince is laid off from his high school substitute teaching job, and his wife just left him. His friend Max who owns a local bar offers him a bartending job which he takes. Max’s cousin Janet, who is a giants fan, also takes a job at the bar. While this is happening, the Eagles hire new head coach Dick Vermeil. During an interview Vermeil announces that there will be open tryouts for the Eagles. While Vince’s friends try to convince him to go to the tryouts, his father who stops by late one night at the bar tells him not to. They don’t have a very strong relationship. Vince goes to the tryout and is the only person asked to go to training camp. Like all great sports movies Vince first struggles at training camp. At first he’s struggling, he’s being ostracized by the big name players and he’s not good enough. Eventually he makes friends and gains the respect of the other players. Vermeil is tasked with the decision of cutting Vince or keeping him and he decides to keep him, and he joined the special teams on kickoffs and punts. Vince making the Eagles seems to be helping his friends and Philly get through these hard times. The Eagles first preseason game is against the colts and Vince, along with the Eagles, is demolished. After finding out that the Eagles went 0-4 in preseason, they host the cowboys. After a back and forth game the Eagles have to punt. Vince calls and audible which is successful, forces a fumble, and returns it for a touchdown. The film then shows real footage of Vince Papale, and Dick Vermeil winning the super bowl in the 80-81 season. Vince Papale’s first goal is to bounce back from his wife leaving him and being laid off. This is obviously a major conflict in someone’s life. He first tries to achieve this goal by getting a job at Max’s bar. This isn’t a lot of income, and because of Janet joining, it’s even less. Then Vince tried out for the Philadelphia Eagles. This can be considered a new goal and another way to overcome his conflict. The reason it becomes a new goal is because becoming an Eagle wasn’t an easy task. He worked hard and made the Eagles. So at the end of the film he accomplishes both of his goals. The only other real main character in this film is Dick Vermeil. His goal is to bring the Philadelphia Eagles back to their winning ways. The conflict is that he is joining an organization with an angry fan base, arrogant players, and a lot of loses. The content of the film doesn’t complete his goal to the fullest but it does something. By taking Vince on the team the spirit of the Philadelphians did rise. This did provide a boost in morale to the fan base. He also gained the respect of his players which is seen during the training camp. In the ending credits you see that Coach Vermeil later leads the Eagles to a super bowl title. For Vince Papale, the definition of a sport has two levels to it. The first is the normal definition. Vince is playing football in the NFL which is a huge organization that is well-governed. The super bowl is one of the most watched and well-known final in any sport so there is major competition to win. If this award isn’t good enough, there are individual awards that are won each season. Lastly, there is definitely physical activity that needs to be done in football. Vince acknowledges all of this, and this can be seen when he’s training on his own and at training camp. I believe that his other definition of a sport simply is passion. It is hard to say that Vince Papale didn’t earn his spot on the team. That is all due to his passion for the game. I believe that Dick Vermeil shares the same definition of a sport as Vince Papale. Because he’s a coach, he has studied the game and knows everything about it. This means he has passion and great respect for the sport and thinks everyone else should. One thing that was discussed in class that was in the movie was the emotional motivation for fans. These motivations include a desire to be entertained. In the movie everyone is angry at the beginning because the Eagles suck. It gives the fans a form of stress that provides fulfillment. This can be seen when Vince’s friends are at the game watching him play. You can see how stressed they are but how excited they get when he causes the fumble. The most important motivation is an escape from their normal daily lives. This is very important because Philadelphia is going through financial troubles, and football helps them forget that and enjoy themselves. Another topic that we discussed in class is brutal body contact, and this is definitely in the film. Brutal body contact is when physical practice is common in sports. The sport accepts and encourages this physical practice. Invincible is about football so you can’t go anywhere without seeing brutal body contact. The last topic that we discussed in class that is in the movie is the four constructs of positive coaching. This is seen through the relationship of Vince and his coach. Three of the four constructs are shown in the scene when coach Vermeil helps Vince with his car. It’s clear that there is complementarity, or there is open communication. And this normal conversation about his car, brings them closer. Lastly, there is co-orientation. This is when an athlete and coach recognize the difference between mutual friendship and that the coach is superior. Coach Vermeil jokes about how they are closer to the same age than most players, and Vince laughs but tells him he’s committed. During the training camp you can see the commitment Vermeil has towards his players and his players, especially Vince has towards him. I believe that the movie Invincible does an adequate job representing the true sport of football. The reason it falters a little is because the main focus of the the film is about Vince and how he’s overcoming his problems. Due to this, the non football scenes outnumber the football ones. However, Invincible has a great representation of two things in sports. The first is its fans and how sports can impact people’s lives. Throughout the film the people of Philadelphia are going through rough times. Also, in the beginning of the film, the fans are booing the Eagles of the field. But, when Vince makes the team you can see the spirit of the fans and city increase. You really see the positive affect a sports team can have on a city. The better example of how this movie did a good job of representing football is showing the pressure of a first year coach. When Dick Vermeil is hired as the Eagles coach, like any coach of a struggling franchise, he is tasked with getting results. You see this pressure mount up subtly throughout the film, even with the conversations with his wife. It did a great job showing the media analyzing his open tryout as desperate. Finally, it’s know that if Vermeil chooses Vince and he’s a flop, then both their careers are over. Invincible does a good job representing a different aspect of football.