It is about her family and the death of her soccer playing brother. Elisabeth plays her mother and produces, her brother Andrew wrote, produced, and plays the coach, and her husband is the director and producer. I never knew this about Elisabeth Shue, but I have always liked her.
Here is a link to the story.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/4841596.html
No, I'm afraid that the link to the Houston Chronicle article is not the true story.
The facts:
1. Elisabeth Shue played on a boys soccer team from the age of 9 through 12. 2. Elisabeth Shue is 5'2" tall. She realized at age 13 that she no longer could compete physically with the boys - they kept growing. When she reached high school, she actually made her school's girls gymnastics team. At 5'2" she was most likely the tallest on the team.
3. Her brother, William Shue, did not die in a car accident in high school creating the impetus for 15 year old Elisabeth to covet his position on the boys soccer team. William died in 1988 (not 1986), a few days before his 27th birthday, while on a family vacation. A rope broke on a tire swing and he was thrown into a tree branch, impaling him, while his siblings watched in horror. Elisabeth Shue was 24 years old and had already established herself as a film actress.
These facts were taken from a GQ interview with Elizbeth Shue in October 1996. In that interview she said "...I so wanted to fit in with my brothers, and I was always playing with the boys, and I probably seemed real comfortable. I was a really great athlete; I was included because I was good enough and they needed me on the team. But at a certain point, everybody got older, and the boys were all better athletes than me. And my whole self-worth had been based on the notion that I understood men and was strong and tough and could beat anybody up. It never occurred to me that a time would come when I wasn't as physically strong as my brothers . . ." That time came at age 13 when she could no longer compete with the boys.
Additional information from Elisabeth Shue's quotes can be found at http://www.eonline.com/celebrities/profile/?uuid=5cd6b0c5-22c6-4612-b987-43ea2710151b
Thanks for posting that. I was thinking "surely not the actress Elizabeth Shue" I really enjoyed the story :)
shareThat's why it says "loosely based on her life". Everything won't be fact for fact. It doesn't say "based on a true story" or "inspired by a true story". You can't go in there expecting the real story.
"You can't throw him out, I won him!"
-Joon (Benny and Joon)
If you visit the official movie's web site - graciemovie.com - and click on the "About" icon at the top of the page, you'll see their description state "based on true events". The true events are that she was a girl who played on a boys soccer team (age 9-12), she went to high school, her brother played soccer in high school, her brother died (at age 27 attending medical school and many years removed from playing high school soccer).
When I see "based on true events", I expect it to be more true than fiction. For the amount of true events in this movie - every movie could advertise as being based on true events. Silence of the Lambs could be based on true events. It could be seen as a female FBI agent in a male dominated field who interviews an imprisoned murderer. I would expect that all of that has happened at some time so it could have had "true events" on their movie advertising.
It's all about furthering careers and making money at the expense of truth.
It's all about furthering careers and making money at the expense of truth - totally disagree.
I would agree in a lot of cases, but not in this film. Admittedly not everything is spot on, but I'm sure it's for personal reasons. For example, I imagine showing how their brother really died would be hugely upsetting for them and isn't really relevant to the story - it's just the fact he died, how he dies doesn't change what happens afterwards.
From the "true events" what happened after William Shue died? He was almost 27 years old and Elisabeth was 24. Although his death was tragic (in real life) it was 10 years after the fictional events of this movie and had no bearing on any of the fictional activities of this story.
shareI've always liked Elisabeth Shue as an actress... there is a part of me that wants to defend her and agree that this 'twist' on the events isn't a big deal... but then again it really does kinda bug me. I just saw the movie for the first time tonight, and when I think about the 'trama' that the family went through and how it supposedly propelled Gracie and her father to do what they did and all, and then to find out that her brother (in real life) died under totally different circumstances and all... I dunno, I think maybe the scrambling of the events is just too much. Kinda disappointed now. :(
share I expect it to be more true than fiction
You do realize that's what true fiction is. Fictional accounts from real events
That's a cool story, good post!
sharecool!
I couldn't really buy fully into it, when I read the credits in the end. So it doesn't destroy the movie for me, how they have stretched the truth a bit.
I think what people don't realized is that all those movies "based on a true story" all have things that are either embellished or moved around in the timeline for a better story.
Take a look at a similar movie, "Rudy". There were many things taken out of context and "improved" to make a better story. Better yet, look at "JFK". Stone took real elements and many people say he altered them to make his own version of events which have many people thnking events are as they truly happened.
Hollywood has its own version of reality. The only difference between movies and reality is that movies have to make sense.
The comment that "based on true" movies tend always to change things, sometimes significantly is quite right. On some level, we should remember this, and you can still enjoy the films. But, those who think film is really news (imperfect as is), and there are some, are misguided.
The film really is on some level "true" ... it is about the Shue family, their love for soccer, loss of their brother at a young age, etc. The family, for which this is a labor of love, didn't try to suggest the film was what happened exactly. I recall as such when the film came out -- for instance, Elizabeth Shue basically said the film was sort of what she wished she did ... continue playing, though one comment suggested she was not physically able to compete on that level. Other girls very well can, as a comment on the commentary track noted, referencing a girl who did play on a boy's team.
It is interesting to listen to the commentary track of the DVD (with the brother and sister). You surely learn the movie is not exactly what happened. The brother comments on being a chance to make the winning kick, not Elizabeth. But, Elizabeth doesn't -- like she did in some interviews -- specifically say when she stopped playing. Since we do learn the brother died much later, we know "Gracie" isn't her ... but in some ways (the youthful discretions etc.) it was. So, I think saying when she stopped playing would have been useful.
[In fact, her husband, the director (on his commentary track), mentions that social pressures ... from her coach in particular ... led her to stop playing. This colors a comment on this thread that suggests it was her size alone. She did play on the boys team in junior high.]
I think it's like any book. Many writers take real life events that either happened to them or other people and fictionalize it using people who resemble themselves, family, friends, people they met thought out their lives and blend them into characters. Events as well. Being that Elizabeth Shue and Grace Bowen are the same person, but have different names tells me this. I just look at this as taking real life events and using it to tell a story. That's what writers do. Nothing new.
shareI think it's like any book. Many writers take real life events that either happened to them or other people and fictionalize it using people who resemble themselves, family, friends, people they met thought out their lives and blend them into characters.
I was born in 1978 and I can't believe they had no girls soccer teams back then?!
The actress that played gracie did a great job. I thought it was a really good storyline. I noticed it's original release date was on my birthday too :P.
16th generation american