Movie review: Gracie
A movie NOT to watch at home
Nicole Holland
Issue date: 10/17/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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There have been great sports films. "Gracie" does not fall into this category. The story is cliché, and extremely predictable. The idea of women playing sports in a men's world, circa the 1970's, gripped me. However, my attention was lost almost immediately.
The "Benvolio" of the story has a predictable tragic ending. The memory of the character is motivation for the rest of the predictable plot.
The protagonist of the story, Gracie, played by Carly Schroeder, was not a cohesive character. Instead of focusing on her athletic prowess, her rebellion and bad attitude were the plot points of the story.
Dating, promiscuity, lying to her parents, and stealing were focuses of the film. This side note was underdeveloped. It seemed to be a transition as to why Gracie's father would eventually be open minded, but it did not work.
The struggle between her and her father's opposing opinions was never clearly resolved. Undermining between the characters held both the plot and the character development back.
There were also gaps in the concept of the story. The idea that someone can master a sport within such a small time frame was not believable. In most sports films, the protagonist has been working his or her whole life towards a goal. In this movie, Gracie's brothers have been training their whole lives. She trains for one off-season, and somehow can make the team?
"Gracie" was a movie about a girl who wanted to be an athlete. It was not a film about an athlete who happened to be a girl. Her situation was not indicative of women who wanted to play sports and could not.
The protagonist was headstrong and irrational, which helped her achieve the goal of trying out for the team, but again was hard to relate to other women. Real women went through the discrimination of this era.
Although I will not be adding this to my watch-again list, there were some redeeming qualities to this blunder of a film. "Gracie" did have a semi-good soundtrack, which made the monotony of the plot somewhat bearable. Another perk was watching Dermot Mulroney on screen. His character was developed, and well played.
Instead of staying in to watch this new release, I recommend spending the extra dollar at the theater this week.
Review results: 1 out of 5 fish.
The "Benvolio" of the story has a predictable tragic ending. The memory of the character is motivation for the rest of the predictable plot.
The protagonist of the story, Gracie, played by Carly Schroeder, was not a cohesive character. Instead of focusing on her athletic prowess, her rebellion and bad attitude were the plot points of the story.
Dating, promiscuity, lying to her parents, and stealing were focuses of the film. This side note was underdeveloped. It seemed to be a transition as to why Gracie's father would eventually be open minded, but it did not work.
The struggle between her and her father's opposing opinions was never clearly resolved. Undermining between the characters held both the plot and the character development back.
There were also gaps in the concept of the story. The idea that someone can master a sport within such a small time frame was not believable. In most sports films, the protagonist has been working his or her whole life towards a goal. In this movie, Gracie's brothers have been training their whole lives. She trains for one off-season, and somehow can make the team?
"Gracie" was a movie about a girl who wanted to be an athlete. It was not a film about an athlete who happened to be a girl. Her situation was not indicative of women who wanted to play sports and could not.
The protagonist was headstrong and irrational, which helped her achieve the goal of trying out for the team, but again was hard to relate to other women. Real women went through the discrimination of this era.
Although I will not be adding this to my watch-again list, there were some redeeming qualities to this blunder of a film. "Gracie" did have a semi-good soundtrack, which made the monotony of the plot somewhat bearable. Another perk was watching Dermot Mulroney on screen. His character was developed, and well played.
Instead of staying in to watch this new release, I recommend spending the extra dollar at the theater this week.
Review results: 1 out of 5 fish.
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