Santa Rita Film Co.
Not part of a collection.
12 Mighty Orphans
Based on the true story of the team that inspired a nation.
Haunted by his mysterious past, a devoted high school football coach leads a scrawny team of orphans to the state championship during the Great Depression and inspires a broken nation along the way.
- Original title
- 12 Mighty Orphans
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- $3,615,193
CinemaSerf
Jan 24, 2023 · via TMDB
Luke Wilson is quite effective here as a football coach (Rusty) who, with his teacher wife (Juanita) and his daughter arrive at a run down orphanage, home to 150 children of all ages abandoned by their parents in the midst of the Great Depression. Pretty quickly, they get the general idea that those in the establishment are considered more like the inmates of a prison, and those running it are at best indifferent, at worst ruthlessly exploitative of their charges. Rusty sets out to try and galvanise the disparate young men into some sort of cohesive unit. Initially, they are sullen, demotivated and would rather fight each other than try to play a game and the task looks impossible, but luckily he has some help from school doctor "Hall" (Martin Sheen) a worldly dipsomaniac with a thorough knowledge of American football and of human nature. The younger cast are made of relative unknowns, but as with the aspirations for their their team, they bond well - especially Jacob Lofland as the skinny Snoggs; Slade Monroe as the chunky quarterback Wheatie and a there is strong, heartfelt effort from Jake Austin Walker - the sort of recalcitrant-in-chief Hardy Brown. The coach enables the boys to feel something other than despair for the first time in their lives - he gives them hope, a sense of purpose and of family. Wayne Knight - whom i always recall as the dodgy IT bloke from "Jurassic Park" (1993) is really quite good as the odious teacher Frank Wynn, who uses the youngsters as cheap labour - and is brutal with his paddle if anyone steps out of line. Director Ty Roberts has done well to illustrate the sense of abandonment felt by the youngsters, and to a certain extent by the school management too, but more so - he manages, through some sparing appearances from Treat Williams - to share with us the sensational effects these young men had on the ordinary men and women of the USA - desperate for something positive to get behind after years of poverty and gloom. For reasons that make no sense to me, the timeline has been shifted from the mid 1920s until the late 1930s. It's not that it makes a great deal of difference to the narrative it's just curious that the end credits are accompanied by interesting mini-bios of the boys that don't remotely tie up - unless they were flying bombers WWII at a very early age. Still, it is a well structured production which has just enough of the facts to keep it real, but just enough imagination to enable me to feel engaged with the men, their efforts and ultimately, I rather enjoyed it.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Plex
Luke Wilson
Rusty Russell
Vinessa Shaw
Juanita Russell
Wayne Knight
Frank Wynn
Martin Sheen
Doc Hall
Jake Austin Walker
Hardy Brown
Scott Haze
Rodney Kidd
Jacob Lofland
Snoggs
Rooster McConaughey
Pop Boone
King Orba
Remmert
Treat Williams
Amon Carter
Larry Pine
President Roosevelt
Ron White
Sheriff Red Wright
Gavin Warren
Young Rusty
Sampley Barinaga
Chicken
Natasha Bassett
Opal
Carlson Young
Annie
Lane Garrison
Luther Scarborough
Robert Duvall
Mason Hawk
Austin Robert Russell
Maywood
Lucy Faust
Wanda Sealy
Jeff Swearingen
Earl
Kelly Frye
Young Mary Jame
Zach Rose
Pinkney Russell
Heath Freeman
Coach Cox
Brian Lafontaine
Referee #2
Robert Musgrave
Mineral Wells Coach
Kelly Dealyn
Secretary
Braden Balazik
Orphan (uncredited)
Keegan Bouton
Homeless Kid (uncredited)
Alex Bilbrey
Homeless Kid (uncredited)
Victoria Paige Watkins
Orphan (uncredited)
Russell Towery
Stunt Coordinator
Ty Roberts
Director
Lane Garrison
Co-Producer
Ekaterina Baker
Executive Producer
Kyle Stroud
Executive Producer
Matt Barr
Executive Producer
Michael De Luca
Producer
Ty Roberts
Producer
Mark Orton
Original Music Composer
Lane Garrison
Writer
Ty Roberts
Writer
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