’12 Mighty Orphans’ Gets Caught Somewhere Between Plucky Underdog Sports Film & Sentimental Biopic [Tribeca Review]
Having spent most of my life in New England, where sports are the way of life and the Patriots hoard more cultural cachet than the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and maybe even the mayor combined, I have never understood football’s appeal as entertainment or as a pastime. Against these odds, Ty Roberts’ new movie, “12 Mighty Orphans,” has opened my eyes by couching Americans’ passion for the game in a time of national duress: The Dust Bowl, smack-dab in the middle of the Great Depression, when football became a symbol on which deprived and destitute Americans could imprint their hopes and dreams.