A Shot At Glory

My friends and I were sitting around eating sushi, solving world problems. Where should some of us travel for vacation? “The best-looking men on the planet,” says I, “are in Scotland.” Yes, girls, if it’s men who look like Gaelic gods you’re craving then head for the Highlands. In the meantime, catch A Shot at Glory, which lovingly shows off many of Scotland’s greatest treasures — including its fantastic rugged landscapes, its charm, wit, eccentricities, Celtic roots and the beauty of its people. Even if poor Prince Charles ever accedes to the throne, he wouldn’t be reigning monarch in Scotland. Why? Because there soccer is king. Soccer isn’t just a life-and death issue, the glory-mad Scottish Celts say — it’s more. Robert Duvall is Gordon MacLeod, the aging manager of a second-level soccer team in lovely Kilnockie, a small town on the seacoast. Forget the old cliche “it’s not if you win or lose, but how you play the game.” To MacLeod, winning is everything. The owner of the team is a super-rich American played with gum-chewing sleaze by Michael Keaton, who wants the team to start making money. To boost the team’s performance, Keaton brings in a famous but unreliable soccer star, Jackie McQuillan (Ally McCoist — a Scots soccer player and television-sports-show hostm in his acting debut), who also happens to be MacLeod’s former ne’er-do-well son-in-law. MacLeod blames McQuillan for taking away his daughter (Libby Langdon, Sidewalks of New York) and breaking her heart. Worst of all, the young couple didn’t get married in MacLeod’s church, and he hasn’t spoken to his daughter in the ensuing four years. Duvall is his usual marvelous self — this time speaking in a hypnotic Scots accent that seems like music after you begin to understand it. As he struggles to build his team to championship caliber, MacLeod must also deal with his own demons — as his daughter calls them, his “broodings on betrayal.” The interlocking levels of the movie is what makes it so wonderful. Many love stories weave themselves together like an intricate Celtic knot: handsome young McQuillan and his ex-wife, Duvall and his wife of 40 years, Duvall and his daughter. But mostly, it’s the love that soccer players and fans have for the game that transcends physical ability and soars in the glory of legend. Just as in another wonderful movie with a sports background — The Rookie, with Dennis Quaid — you don’t have to like sports to enjoy A Shot at Glory. In fact, I hate sports (OK, there — I finally said it), but I love this movie because it makes you think, makes you feel, makes you laugh (the funniest supporting characters are always found in British movies) and makes you really, really root for the team. Go Kilnockie! Go! (Oh, and did I mention all those gorgeous guys running around in short shorts?)