12 mighty orphans

It is interesting to see that sports remain one of the strong themes of cinema and continue to occupy a privileged place. Discovered during our press coverage of the Tribeca festival, the new film co-written and directed by Ty Roberts (Four Aims and Flyin' Shoes (2001), This Side of the Dirt (2017), The Iron Orchard (2018)) is certainly one of our favorites of this edition as it is based on a gripping scenario and especially a true story, that of the Mighty Mites, an American soccer team from an orphanage in Fort Worth.

Set in the 1930s, the film tells the true story of a World War I veteran, Rusty Russell (Luke Wilson), who decides to become the coach of a Fort Worth (Texas) team of orphans. Himself an orphan, he understands the many difficulties of these teenagers in loss of reference and knows that the practice of a sport can help them to act together, to surpass themselves and especially to regain confidence in them. Totally invested, he will not only improve the vision of the world of these young people but also give them the desire to progress and to win. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Mighty Mites team, which was playing barefoot and without a budget, finds itself competing for a real championship, the Texas State Championship. With the help of their coach Rusty Russell, this team will totally succeed in surpassing itself to the point of attracting the attention of the President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt.

12 Mighty Orphans is one of those films that we never see coming and yet it fascinates us so much that it manages to find the intact charm of the great films of the 80s. The real hero of the film is not a player but the coach Rusty Russell. This World War I veteran not only changed the game of American soccer forever by implementing a true sports strategy, but above all, with no means, he managed to create and federate a true American soccer team capable of competing with professionals. Based on Jim Dent's novel, Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites who ruled Texas soccer, this film keeps all its promises and benefits from a perfectly mastered reconstruction and a cast that allows us to find around Luke Wilson, Vinessa Shaw, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall and many young actors.

While we could have expected another movie about American soccer with its training phases and a game serving as a high point in the story, 12 Mighty Orphans prefers to focus its attention on the many characters of the film and on their reason to give the best of themselves, whether it be one of the players of the Mighty Orphans who prefers to stay with the other orphans making up his real family than to return to his mother, who is trying to recover him, a confrontation between the dean, Frank Wynn (Wayne Knight) who beat with sadistic pleasure his young orphans and Rusty Russell the different ramifications of this story totally convinced us.

The end of the film introduces us to the real people who inspired its characters and we can see that some of them managed to make it big and become important people. This film celebrates a non-professional American soccer team that changed the world of sports forever and above all shows us that actor Luke Wilson (StarGirl series (2020-2021)) knows how to be totally convincing in a comedy as well as in a dramatic film like this one, which in our eyes is one of the best discovered during the Tribeca festival this year.

12 mighty orphans
Directed by Ty Roberts
Produced by Houston Hill, Brinton Bryan, Michael De Luca, Angelique De Luca, Ty Roberts 
Executive Producer: Mike Barr, Ryan R. Ross, Matt Barr, Kyle Stroud, Ryan R. Johnson, Martin Sheen, Rhett Bennet, Scott Helbing, J. Todd Harris, Greg McCabe, George Young Jr.
Written by Ty Roberts, Lane Garrison, Kevin Meyer 
Based on Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football by Jim Dent
Starring Luke Wilson, Vinessa Shaw, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Wayne Knight, Jake Austin Walker, Lane Garrison, Levi Dylan, Jacob Lofland, Treat Williams, Scott Haze
Music by Mark Orton
Cinematography : David McFarland
Edited by James K. Crouch 
Production companies : Carte Blanche Film, Santa Rita Film Co, Michael De Luca Productions, Greenbelt Films, Sprockefeller Pictures
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Release date : June 11, 2021 (Tribeca)
Running time : 118 minutes

Seen on June 15, 2021 (Tribeca Festival Online press access)

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