It is an inspirational story that scores a touchdown. It is impossible not to root for the ragtag team of orphans that go up against the top high school football powerhouses during the Great Depression. Writer/director Ty Roberts lands a first-rate cast led by Luke Wilson as the new coach. He has a daunting task. He has to teach them how to play the game of football. Heck, they don’t even have shows or pads at the first practice. The heart of the film is that many of the orphaned men go on to make important contributions to society. Sports teach essential life lessons and ’12 Mighty Orphans’ lets us stand up and cheer the underdog.
Rusty Russell (Luke Wilson) has landed a teaching and coaching job at the Masonic Home, an orphanage near Forth Worth, Texas. He has the support of his wife (Vinessa Shaw). Rusty gets a lot of resistance from a villain played by Wayne Knight, better known as Newman on Seinfeld. Luckily, Rusty gets support from Doc Hall (Martin Sheen) who also narrates the story. He helps the coach navigate the good old boy administration. It is rough going as the boys learn the game of football. They get routed during the first game as they take on an elite high school.
This is where the story gets interesting. With the help of his daughter, Betty, he creates an innovative formation that helps them win games. Of course, Rusty leads them to the point of a state championship. Since the story takes place during the Depression, the ragtag team of orphans wins the admiration of the public including President Roosevelt played by Larry Pine and a cameo from the venerable Robert Duvall. One of the best lines in the film is when Doc Hall tells Rusty, “The best horses are the hardest to break.” The orphans were looked at as misfits and second-class citizens. Football gave them something to be proud of.
The big message to take away from ’12 Mighty Orphans’ is how football taught the boys about life. Leonard “Snoggs” Roach (Jacob Lofland) eventually became a detective for the Houston Police Department. Leon Pickett (Woodrow Littrell) worked for the Gulf Oil Company and Miller Moseley (Bailey Roberts) worked on the Manhattan Project and later taught math at Texas Christian University. And football star Hardy Brown (Jake Austin Walker) played 12 seasons in the NFL. The ending credits are a powerful reminder how Rusty Russell had a powerful impact on his players.
‘The Might Orphans’ is a solid inspirational sports movie. It shows how going through adversity makes us overcome and succeed in life. They were a group of boys that society tossed aside. It was the Great Depression and the public needed an underdog to cheer. They pulled themselves up from their bootstraps to become winners on the gridiron and in life. ’12 Mighty Orphans’ is a must-see for sports fans.
