arizona1121, United States of America (Reviewer Ranking: 1) wrote this review on December 25, 2005:
Eagles football is an obsession, a sick and depraved and wonderfully addictive tonic that is illustrated so colorfully and emotionally in E-A-G-L-E-S, The Movie.
Produced by Bombo Sports and Entertainment, the documentary intrudes on the personal lives of more than a dozen fans during the course of the 2004 season and brings to light the incredible passion you, the fans, exhibit for this football team.
Bombo started shooting in September, 2004 and completed the project in February, 2005 collecting nearly 200 hours of film. There was so much good stuff that the first cut was five hours long.
Included in the 85-minute film are exclusive interviews with the likes of head coach Andy Reid, team president Joe Banner and various players.
Having trouble explaining the pride and, at times, angst fans feel about the Eagles to those who just don't understand? This movie illustrates the plight of the fan as the team soars to Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, FL. Central to the theme of the movie is the involvement fans from all walks of life have in the Eagles. There is Shirley, the excitable woman who has a deep faith in God and, after learning the rules of the game of football, the Eagles. There is Chris, a life-long Eagles fan who hops on a yellow bus with some friends to make the trip to Pittsburgh to see the Eagles play the Steelers and who chokes up from time to time thinking about his recently-departed brother, Joey.
There is Phil, the quick-with-a-crack Mt. Airy man who worships the Eagles and his wife and son -- and who has a very funny story about the origin of Dallas, the city -- and he loves the occasions he has to visit Lincoln Financial Field and, ultimately, the Super Bowl.
There are doctors who put aside their white-collar professions and strap on their green on game day and dig deep into their emotional reservoir to cheer on the Eagles. There are men alongside women next to children who gather in basements and living rooms and bars in Philadelphia and beyond -- most notable, The Parrot Lounge in Fort Lauderdale, FL -- and root and cheer and scream and agonize about every little thing related to the Eagles.
There are some memorable scenes throughout. Tom McCarthy opens and closes the movie -- and is terrific throughout -- as "The Philly Fan" at Lincoln Financial Field wondering when he is going to get his championship. He portrays the typical Eagles fan who has poured all of his heart and soul into the team and only wants one title to call his own.
There is a funny bit with Brian Westbrook as he takes part in a photo shoot that looks so good until the lights go out. There is a great piece from the land of the pre-game tailgates when fans engage in a "soup off" to determine which Eagles fans make the best soup.
Donovan McNabb and Jeffrey Lurie take a road trip to a Boston Red Sox playoff game after the Eagles' overtime win in Cleveland and it is great, real-life footage.
Throughout the movie -- as it was throughout the season -- there was a deep love and appreciation for the players and the franchise mixed with a fear, a true fear, of appreciating success. Can Eagles fans handle a good thing? Sometimes, as E-A-G-L-E-S, The Movie explains so artfully, Eagles fans simply expect something bad to happen.
After the rip-roaring 7-0 start, for example, the Eagles were throttled by the Steelers. Eagles' fans moods darkened. The team was exposed, some said. Doubts started, the media reported. Holes were evident against such a great team. How could the Eagles possibly rebound?
They did, of course. The convincing win the next week, in Dallas on Monday Night Football put the team and the fans back on the happy-face track until late in the season when Dallas visited Lincoln Financial Field.
That's the game in which Terrell Owens -- who says to the cameras during the movie that he can't believe "how perfect" things have gone for him as an Eagle -- suffers his leg/ankle injury and limps into an uncertain future.
How did Eagles fans react? With the exception of Shirley, there is incredible depression. Fans felt sorry for themselves. They wrote the season off. They cited Murphy's Law, as if it only applied to the Eagles.
Of course, that frustration fades to hope as the playoffs arrive and the Eagles whip Minnesota and then Atlanta and reach the Super Bowl.
The scenes from the fans then make you want to cry tears of joy. Shirley is tackled in the snow. Phil lies on his floor weeping. Janessa immediately asks for a credit card to arrange her trip to Jacksonville.
In the locker room -- there are several wonderful, exclusive scenes inside the locker room -- the players are expressive with their hugs and their happiness and as Jeffrey Lurie breaks it down in the post-game huddle, the only thing that mattered to this team after beating Atlanta was winning the Super Bowl.
That didn't happen, of course. Fans are shown at the game cheering on the Eagles. They are shown in their family rooms back in Philadelphia watching the game. They are up and down, up and down, too emotional at the end to cry or laugh or, in some cases, move.
They are stunned.
It's a fine film. It's a movie about the fans, perhaps the most misunderstood group of any sports fans. Ruffians? No, not Eagles fans. They are fiercly protective of their team and their city and their heritage. They are family, all together now, from one side of the world to the other with Philadelphia in between.
You want to buy this movie and watch it before the 2005 season begins. You want to re-live what 2004 was like, experience again the joyride of the season to remind yourselves why you are here, enjoying everything about the Eagles.
The Eagles did not win the Super Bowl, but E-A-G-L-E-S, The Movie wins in the way it tells the story of the deep love fans have for this football team. It isn't always pretty. Eagles fans are quick to complain and quick to bounce back. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone who is a fan can relate to what it was like to be part of the '04 run and E-A-G-L-E-S, The Movie brings it home with a convincing emotional knockout of a film.
As McCarthy, speaking for all Eagles fans, says: "We are the most loyal fans in the world! All we want is a championship, that's all. That's not asking a lot.
"When's our turn!!!!"
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