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The Game of Their Lives
Metascore
47 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 13
  3. Negative: 3 out of 13
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  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    75
    What the cast members lack in sharpened skill they more than make up for in raw gusto and athletic scrappiness (most of the actors have logged a lot of soccer in their pasts). These guys give a sport that is virtually nameless in the movies a good name in this one.
  2. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    70
    Unlike some other soccer movies, there's no fancy editing -- excitement is generated strictly by the actual choreography and the commentary of an English announcer.
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    67
    Coaching from the same playbook with which they made "Rudy" and "Hoosiers," director David Anspaugh and screenwriter Angelo Pizzo create a reverent fable.
  4. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Crust
    60
    Despite strong performances by Gerard Butler and Wes Bentley as the leaders of the two factions and crisply directed soccer action, the movie lacks a powerful central presence to carry the drama.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    50
    The Game of Their Lives has a great sports story to tell, yet the filmmakers fumble it away.
  6. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Hartlaub
    50
    Disappointingly mediocre.
  7. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    50
    But Game really isn't a performer's movie. And the climactic contest (in which the Americans amazingly eked out a 1-0 win against England, considered by many to be the world's finest team at the time) is only serviceably staged.
  8. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    50
    By the time of the fabled match -- which you could swear lasts a full 90 minutes -- it's all you can do to keep your skin from crawling off your body and slinking to the safety of another room. Do yourself a favor: Follow it.
  9. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Chuck Wilson
    50
    The final match stirs briefly, but when it's over, the movie's energy crashes right back down again. Disappointing.
  10. Variety
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    40
    Picturesque pic, however, lacks even a penalty kick's worth of tension and is paradoxically inert for a movie about guys running up and down the pitch for the glory of the U.S.
  11. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    38
    Obviously made with all of the best will in the world, its heart in the right place, this is a sluggish and dutiful film that plays more like a eulogy than an adventure.
  12. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    30
    The dialogue and acting are flatter than a punctured ball.
  13. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Sean Daly
    30
    It is flat-footed, uninspired and disjointed from start to finish, a glaring disservice to the men who played the game.
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