Sept-2008 A WORD ABOUT UPDATES
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Set in 1978, "Gracie" is an inspirational film about a teenage girl who overcomes the loss of her brother and fights the odds to achieve her dream of playing competitive soccer at a time when girls' soccer did not exist. Based on true events from the lives of the Shue family (producer and co-star Andrew Shue, Academy Award®-nominated actress Elisabeth Shue), the film is directed by Academy Award®-winning director Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth"), who happens to be part of the family as well, being married to Elisabeth Shue. The film also features a terrific 1970's soundtrack including classic songs from Boston, Blondie, Aretha Franklin, and the Boss, Bruce Springsteen.

Living in South Orange New Jersey, 15 year old Gracie Bowen (Carly Schroeder) is the only girl in a family of three brothers. Their family life revolves almost entirely around soccer: her father (Dermot Mulroney) and brothers are obsessed with the sport, practicing in the backyard's makeshift field every day from morning 'til night. Tragedy unexpectedly strikes when Gracie's older brother Johnny (Jesse Lee Soffer), star of the high school varsity soccer team and Gracie's only protector, is killed in a car accident.

Struggling with grief over her family's loss, Gracie decides to fill the void left on her brother's team by petitioning the school board to allow her to play on the boy's high school varsity soccer team in his place. Her father, a former soccer star himself, tries to prove to Gracie that she is not tough enough or talented enough to play with boys. Her mother, Lindsey Bowen (Elisabeth Shue) already an outsider in the sports-obsessed family, is no help either.

Undeterred, Gracie finds reserves of strength she never knew existed, and persists in changing everyone's beliefs in what she is capable of, including her own. Gracie not only forces her father to wake up from his grief and see her as the beautiful and strong person that she has always been but she also brings her family together in the face of their tragedy. — More here

1. SYNOPSIS
“When I grow up I would like to play soccer. Many girls are afraid to play sports with boys. But after you score a few goals you feel a lot better.”
-Elisabeth Shue, Grade 6

2. A Family Project
"The heart of the story was one I've wanted to tell for about ten years," says GRACIE producer and co-star Andrew Shue in discussing the genesis of the film.

3. The Shues Get Their Kicks
In the backyard of their New Jersey home, in the mid-seventies, the Shues measured themselves by how they played soccer. They all wore the same number seven that their father wore when he captained the Harvard College team in 1958.

4. The Inspiration
While the Shue family's love of soccer provided structure for the film, the inspiration arrived in a more tragic form: Elisabeth, Andrew and John suffered a loss similar to the one the Bowens experienced -the loss of their brother Will in an accident in 1988.

5. Casting
One of the primary challenges facing the filmmakers was the casting of the title role, after an exhaustive search, the role was given to Carly Schroeder, best know to audiences for her performances in such films as Mean Creek, and Fire Wall, as well as television's ‘Lizzie Maguire’.

6. Born to Run
One element of the production that was important to the filmmakers was their decision to shoot the film in New Jersey, where the Shue family spent their childhood. "We talked about shooting it in Canada and trying to save money and we just felt it was crucial to film it in New Jersey," says Andrew.

  — Comment here

Get an idea of the news this film is generating by glancing at the news below. We post a variety of news clipings from a wide range of international publications. Movies are truly the powerful common stories of "the gobal village" that are bringing world transformation.

Gracie: The Two-Legged Kitten
MyFox Kansas City, MO - May 29, 2007
FOX 4's Dave Froehlich met Gracie, and the family who fell in love and adopted her. A seven-week old kitten looks more like a kangaroo than a cat....

Shue Says 'Gracie' Inspired by Brother
San Francisco Chronicle, CA - May 28, 2007
Actor Andrew Shue said his new movie "Gracie," about a New Jersey girl playing soccer on an all-boys team, was difficult because it brought up memories of ...

Gracie tells the unexpected true story of Elisabeth Shue
Houston Chronicle, TX - May 28, 2007
By BRUCE WESTBROOK. Andrew Shue searched for years for the title star of Gracie. When a character is based on your sister, you tend to be picky....

Tribute to the oldest brother turns into a family project
NorthJersey.com, NJ - May 29, 2007
By AMY LONGSDORF. Acting was never Andrew Shue's passion, so when he retired from show business after six seasons on "Melrose Place," he did so without a ...

Q&A: Actress Elizabeth Shue
Express, DC - May 28, 2007
BACK BEFORE Elizabeth Shue had any "Adventures in Babysitting," she was dealing with a daunting challenge in real life: being a girl playing on all-boys...

5 questions with ... Andrew Shue
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX - May 27, 2007
By Cathy Frisinger. Siblings Elisabeth Shue and Andrew Shue star in Gracie, a fictionalized account of their family. The movie Gracie, opening Friday...

Whose life is it anyway?
calendarlive.com, CA - May 27, 2007
An inspiring story of a teen girl's quest to beat boys at their own game isn't pure fiction. Elisabeth Shue, who plays a character derived from her own...

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