(2007, 95 min) Gracie is a sweet reminiscence on events from producer and costar Andrew Shue’s own family history. It’s 1978 in South Orange, NJ. Fifteen-year-old Gracie Bowen lives with her parents and three brothers; the males of the family are totally soccer-obsessed, their days revolving around practices and games. Her older brother Johnny is the star of the high school varsity soccer team, but he always has time for Gracie: he protects her and encourages her. He is her inspiration. Losing him in a car accident devastates the family: Johnny was their cool head and kind heart. And Gracie has lost her defender.
When Gracie decides to sign up for the soccer team as tribute to her brother’s memory, she meets a flood of resistance. There is no girls’ soccer, and the idea of her playing on the boys’ team slams into a brick wall. Her conventional mom (Elisabeth Shue, producer Andrew Shue’s real-life sister) worries that she’ll be an outcast, and her traditionalist dad (Dermot Mulroney) holds the popular opinion that girls can’t hold their own against the guys. But Gracie goes up against it all, rebounding from defeats and roadblocks, and gaining timely support from Title 9 ("No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance"). Prevaling stereotypes and beliefs meet nascent feminist sensibilities, and some minds are opened to new possibilities.
Director Davis Guggenheim’s (An Inconvenient Truth, and Elisabeth Shue’s husband) benevolent treatment and the casts’ thoughtfully considered performances elevate this standard underdog story, based on true events. The portrayals are imbued with affectionate respect for their characters; Carly Schroeder is especially engaging as Gracie.
Gracie will be particularly appreciated by soccer moms and dads and kids. It could be paired with Offside, a film about young women attempting to enter the stadium in Tehran to watch a soccer match (women are barred by law from attending sporting events in Iran).
© TLA Entertainment Group
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