User:Chemicalrobin/sandbox

Differences from the true story

In reality, Papale had been playing semi-professional and pro football for several years, first with the semi-pro Aston Green Knights of the Seaboard Football League and then two seasons with the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League, one of the NFL's rival leagues on the level of the AFL and the USFL. Papale was a standout special teams star for the Bell, who played at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium.

Mark Wahlberg stood shorter at 5-Feet 8-inches than Vince Papale who stood at 6-Feet 2-inches while playing for the Eagles. Mark Wahlberg was closer to Vince Papale's height of 5-Feet-7-inches in high school than his time in the NFL.

The movie portrays Vince meeting Janet before the tryouts when in real life Vince did not meet Janet until after his days playing with the Eagles were over. The couple would marry in 1993.

Vince Papale's first wife did leave him and that nasty note, however that happened 5 years before the events of the movie in 1971. The movie portrayed it this way for the dramatic effect.

Papale did participate in an open tryout before earning his spot on the Bell roster, which the filmmakers used as a model for the tryout shown in the movie. For the Eagles, Papale actually participated in a private workout that was by invitation only. 

The opening scene of the movie features the Eagles' 31−0 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on December 7, 1975. One of the fans makes a comment that the Eagles lost to a team worse than they were. In 1975, the Bengals actually went 11–3 and were the Wild Card team in the AFC.

The game versus the New York Giants is depicted as being a close defensive struggle, with the Giants scoring first to take a 7–0 lead. The Eagles actually won easily 20–7 with the Giants not scoring until late in the game. The fumble recovery depicted in the climactic scene did take place, but Papale's touchdown did not count, as under NFL rules at the time, the ball could not be advanced. It was still a key play in the victory for the Eagles. Papale never scored a regular-season touchdown in the NFL. Papale's only offensive stat came in the 1977 season, where he had 1 catch for 15 yards.

Reception

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. It is certified "fresh" with a 71% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a "generally favorable" rating with a 63/100 on Metacritic, it was given 7.1/10 on the International Movie Database, and a 4/5 stars on Common Sense Media.

The film also inspired the show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia in its third season in an episode called “The Gang Gets Invincible” in which Dennis, Mac and Dee try out for the Philadelphia Eagles due to the movie Invincible

The real life events of Vince Papale also inspired another movie before Invincible came out. This movie was called The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon and starred Tony Danza as an garbage man turned kicker for the Philadelphia Eagles. Both Invincible and The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon were produced by Disney and had good public receptions.

Box office

In opening weekend the movie made approximately $17,031,122 domestically. As of November 16, 2006, the movie has generated an estimated $57,806,952 domestically.