Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

I just saw the trailer for this one the other day for the first time. I don’t think anyone’s terribly surprised by the whole inspirational sports movie genre anymore, but I’ll admit that done well, a film like this can still work. Last year, I was fond of both GOAL! THE DREAM BEGINS and STICK IT, and I find that I’m willing to sit through bad examples of the genre to find the good ones. All of which is just a long-winded way of saying, I hope this is one of the good ones.

What I’m still a little confused about is how this is based on a true story. Some reports I’ve read say it’s based on the life story of the Shue family, and I know that Andrew (MELROSE PLACE) Shue was some sort of soccer player at some point. But this isn’t the Elizabeth Shue story, is it? And if so, I wish the trailer made the connections a little more directly.

I’m also curious because this is directed by Davis Guggenheim, who just won an Oscar for AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, an award that mystifies me. It’s a Power Point presentation, folks. It’s an effective bit of oratory by Al Gore, and he comes off well in it, but that doesn’t change the nature of the film. It’s a lecture. Guggenheim pointed cameras at the lecture. That’s pretty much it. Seems to me that if you want any sense of who Guggenheim is as a filmmaker, you’d have to look at his one other narrative feature film... GOSSIP, an awful, awful slick and empty thriller with James Marsden, Lena Headey, Norman Reedus, Kate Hudson, Eric Bogosian, Edward James Olmos, a bunch of other vaguely familiar people, and not a memorable scene in the entire running time. Or perhaps you need to look at his TV work, where he’s actually logged time working on some damn fine shows. THE SHIELD. ALIAS. 24. DEADWOOD.

Oh, yeah... and he’s married to Elisabeth Shue.

But enough background and questions. I haven’t seen it. Today’s spy has. So what did our spy think?

Hi, Harry. Long time reader, first time writer, all that stuff.

So. I just went to a screening and Q&A of GRACIE starring Carly Schroeder, Dermot Mulroney, Elizabeth Shue, and Andrew Shue. It's a soccer movie set in the 1970s about a teenage girl who tries to get onto a boy's varsity soccer team at a time when there was no girl's soccer. This is a nice bit of summer counter-programming and while this isn't the typical fare that makes AICN readers drool, a couple of things make this a movie of note:

1. The backstory -- while this isn't an autobiography per se, the film is heavily inspired by the real life story of actress Elizabeth Shue, who co-stars in the film. So her fans will be intrigued by that angle. She has a smallish but pivotal role in the film, and in several scenes you are reminded why she was nominated for an OSCAR prior (I heartily recommend checking out THE SAINT for another look and watching her performance again, playing a nuclear physicist with a heart condition -- she really brings it in that film -- every moment is genuine.) It's really a family film both in spirit and execution.

2. The film is directed by Davis Guggenheim, who just won an OSCAR for AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. He's also Elizabeth Shue's husband. And it's well done, right from the opening scene. Sure, it's an uplifting Rocky-type sports story, but it's very good. This isn't THE TRANSFORMERS, it's an intimate story of loss and family, and Guggenheim gets the goods from the cast.

3. THE CAST -- Carly Schroeder can act. At 16, she's already got FIREWALL and MEAN CREEK under her belt, plus a couple of more movies, including another summer release called EYE OF THE DOLPHIN. She's gorgeous, talented and was very down-to-earth in the QA. A star on the rise for sure. The rest of the cast was terrific -- Dermot Mulroney hasn't been this good since MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING. His performance, of a man who keeps his emotions bottled up inside him, was subtle and elegant.

4. The soundtrack is awesome -- they scored not one but two Springsteen songs for the soundtrack -- the Boss NEVER gives it up for film. He must have seen something in this Jersey-set story that tugged at his heartstrings, cuz this is a small-budgeted film.

5. Andrew Shue (from Melrose Place), the film's producer, during the Q&A, said the film was carbon-neutral -- meaning that the filmmakers donated as much $ to fund alternative fuel sources as they spent on carbon-emitting resources to produce the film. That was interesting considering the family tie-in to AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH.

6. After seeing the film and the grass-roots efforts being taken to market it, I really believe that this little movie has a chance to be one of the breakouts of the summer...the little movie that could. It doesn't have to make $200 mil to be a hit. If it made $50 mil it would be a huge win, and I think it could do that. The demographic is 12-16 year-old teenage girls, who are not the usual meat and potatoes of the movie industry unless they're on a date, so this might be the movie that like, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, brings out a particular segment of the audience in droves.

In the interests of full disclosure, my company is involved with the film in a minor way, which is how I got to attend this special screening tonight. But rest assured I am not a plant; I am a hardcore fanboy through and through. Despite working 50 hours a week and having a family, I go to the movies every chance I get -- usually late shows during the week -- even when I know they will suck. Just to get my fix. I managed to see both THE INVISIBLE (did not suck) and NEXT (which did) this weekend at late shows.

Totally unrelated: I also recently saw VACANCY and DISTURBIA, both of which I liked. VACANCY had some astonishingly creative credit sequences, very Hitchcockian and better than the movie they bookended. I actually stayed through all the credits at the end to watch them, and I rarely do that.

Next up: why, of course, the midnight Thursday showing of SPIDERMAN 3 and then yes, to the office the next day.

If you use this call me... "Sandman."

AICN rocks.