DETAILS
12 Mighty Orphans
Stars: 3.0
Starring Luke Wilson, Vinessa Shaw, Wayne Knight, Treat Williams, Jake Austin Walker, Jacob Lofland, Levi Dylan, Robert Duvall, and Martin Sheen
Written by Ty Roberts, Lane Garrison, and Kevin Meyer
Directed by Ty Roberts
Rated PG, for scenes of coarse language, brief nudity, substance use, depictions of war, and violence
Runtime: 118 minutes
Playing at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 14 at the Arden Theatre as part of Reel Mondays.
*Please visit the Arden Theatre's website to prepare yourself for COVID-19 protocols: stalbert.ca/exp/arden
Tickets can be purchased online at sapl.libcal.com/event/3647607. A season pass is $50, or you can purchase your tickets for $15 each (plus Eventbrite fees). New promotion: Three-pack available for the February, March, and April films for $38 (plus Eventbrite fees). All proceeds benefit STARFest — St. Albert Readers’ Festival.
Visit friendsofsapl.ca/reel-monday for more information. The next films run on March 21 and April 4.
Contact [email protected] or visit the library's customer service desk if you need assistance with purchasing your tickets, or if you have other questions. As this is a Friends fundraiser, there will be no refunds for unused tickets. Tickets can be purchased online until just before the movie begins, but will not be available in-person at the door before the movie.
If you’re a sucker for a feel-good underdog sports movie then the Friends of the St. Albert Public Library have a gem up their collective sleeve for you. What’s more: it’s set to be screened on Feb. 14 so if you don’t have any Valentine’s Day plans yet then this is just the ticket for you.
And it gets even better because 12 Mighty Orphans is based on a true story.
Like so many great underdog stories, things start under dire, unhappy circumstances. During the Great Depression, a man named Rusty Russell forgoes taking a job considered a step up in order to coach football at the Masonic School for Orphans in Fort Worth, Texas. Teamwork and discipline are two skills, he says, that everyone needs to survive. For 12 teenaged orphans (Jacob Lofland, Jake Austin Walker, Scott Haze, Tyler Silva, Levi Dylan, Woodrow Luttrell, Bailey Roberts, Slade Monroe, Preston Porter, Manuel Tapia, Austin Robert Russell, Sampley Barinaga) at the institution, they need it more than anyone.
Russell (played by Luke Wilson) sets off on the uphill task to train these kids and inspire them against the odds to survive and, yes, win. Their team becomes the Mighty Mites. There’s really only one outcome these underdog movies could have and that’s to show them with the trophies. That isn’t a spoiler, simply a known fact. Nothing, not even that reveal, does anything to spoil the pleasure derived from watching these 12 kids go from stumbling and bumbling around on the field to becoming sports legends across the school, and eventually the state and the country. They became inspirations for others, and they’ll probably bring some inspiration your way, too.
The movie is based off of the book Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football by author Jim Dent. While it’s actually a fairly standard, sentimental, and predictable story, 12 Mighty Orphans is still a crowd-pleaser that is amplified by the presence of some cinematic giants. Martin Sheen and Robert Duvall help things along in their roles but the film belongs to the 12. I’m pretty sure the Arden allows standing applause for movies just as they do for concerts.
