12 Mighty Orphans, a Spotlight Narrative entry at Tribeca Fest, is a film that looks and feels like it might have been made in the 1930’s Depression era in which it is set. You half expect Sp…
an inspirational sports drama, the core of the film is really its characters, not the game at its center. Set in Fort Worth in 1938, it’s the true story of Rusty Russell a World War I vet who arrives at the Masonic Home to coach a group of orphaned boys and create a winning football team against all odds.
This is really Rusty’s story. Director Ty Roberts, working from a screenplay by Lane Garrison and Kevin Meyers, does justice to Jim Dent’s book about a man battling his own unspoken past who finds his calling taking an unlikely group all the way to the State Championship. And it takes place in the heart of the Great Depression. The story is tailor made to tug your heart and get you to stand up and cheer, but Roberts doesn’t go the obvious route.
Wilson, a Texan himself and often underrated as an actor, fits this role to perfection. He is matched by Sheen, who gets to show a feistier side than usual. Vinessa Shaw is warm as Juanita, Russell’s wife who also teaches at the school. The boys themselves are largely new to acting and give the proceedings a freshness.
Among the rest of the cast Treat Williams is a standout as Amon Carter, editor of the Fort Worth Star Telegram. Robert Duvall shows up very briefly in a welcome cameo providing a bonus forfans who recall that 1979 classic also starred Sheen.
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