Let me say first that I am a big fan of football (or soccer if you like), and I know something about the `Game’ of the film. Geoffrey Douglas’s original book is translated into Japanese, and the World Cup is now one of the biggest sports events in Japan. And this decently-made film stars Gerard Butler so brilliant in `the Phantom of the Opera,’ Patrick Stewart (as cameo) and Wes Bentley.

So why three stars? For all good acting from the cast, credible atmosphere of the year 1950, and the enthusiasm of the cast and the crew, I am truly afraid that `The Game of Their Lives’ would not be likely to the minds of the viewers of the country about soccer, where baseball or basketball is more popular than soccer. I am not saying that the film is bad. The formulaic film is, so to speak, too faithful (to this I come back later).

I like this kind of story, about underdogs winning in the end. But we need something more in this kind of film, some well-drawn characters you can relate to. Here, Butler as Frank Borghi the ace goal keeper from St. Louis, and Bentley, Walter Bahr from East Coast players, are the central characters, both leading the rag-tag amateur team, which everybody thought would be going to lose. And lose miserably against England.

Though the film’s soccer scenes are done credibly, each character’s personality outside the field is that of cardboard character, including its dialogues and reference to voodoo, and the clash of personalities between the two groups is overcome so easily. More annoying is the very shadowy, near-nonentity existence of England team and its ace striker Stanley Mortenson. If you know nothing about soccer and its history, you would not see why winning this particular game means so much to the American platers. The film provides some background knowledge, but it is like footnotes of a classic novel, something you keep in mind, but not the exciting content itself that you should feel.

[I LOVE FOOTBALL BUT...] OK, this is not complaint. But soccer is kind of sports that do not allow you to take liberties with the actual events very much. You cannot just make `Cool Runnings’ (one of my favorite films) if you want to make it look like real, and they made it look like real in this film. Unlike baseball, American football, or basketball games, sometimes (or often) you witness not many scores in soccer. There is no dramatic grand slam homer getting even in the ninth inning in `Games of Their Lives’ and that’s what I meant by `faithful.’ I admire the decision not to dramatize the material, but maybe some viewers might think otherwise.

Perhaps I couldn’t bring myself to share the enthusiastic views of many other reviewers because I know this is not the only `surprise’ in the long history of FIFA and the World Cup (the victory of North Korea against Italy in 1966, for example). Or maybe I know though the results of the game described here are correct, American team lost other two games (against Spain and Chili). Or more probably, that’s because the film ignores the historical context of soccer in USA, where as the retired reporter (played by Patrick Stewart with heavy accent) says, soccer is getting more popular than before, but still the sports itself was not always so (as in the late 80s when there was no professional league) even after that victory in 1950.

But again I say this is a decent film with inspirational material. I only wish that the filmmakers added something more – something that would tell us about the sports or the players themselves — to the story.

I bought this movie for my 13-year-old son who has been a soccer player for eight years thinking he would enjoy it. It was so boring we couldn’t even finish watching it. There is not much soccer play and to much revolves around the “old timey” characters. It is a real snoozer.