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GRACIE

1 ½ stars

Starring: Carly Schroeder, Dermot Mulroney, Elisabeth Shue

Directed by: Davis Guggenheim

Rated PG-13 for brief sexual content.

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It's unkind to be cynical about a film like "Gracie," a semi-autobiographical feature from actor-producers Elisabeth and Andrew Shue, based on their own family tragedy. Yet we must be honest. It's a trite, indifferently told underdog sports story that could only have been redeemed by perfect execution.

"Gracie," set in 1978, concerns a high schooler who, following her brother's death, fights to turn herself into a star athlete, break the gender barrier, and take his place on the all-boys team. Carly Schroeder (of TV's "Lizzie McGuire") plays the character based on Elisabeth Shue's own experiences as a young woman. The athletic Schroeder appears to have performed her own stunts, which gives the girl-power message a nice boost. Although she runs and kicks nimbly, the film itself is flatfooted.

Mourning her brother while fighting her school's bureaucracy to try out for the boys' team disrupts Gracie's academic and personal life, setting her at odds with her gruff, soccer-nut dad (Dermot Mulroney). Shue herself plays Gracie's mother, fretting on the sidelines. Although they are afraid to let Gracie play with the bruisers on the boy's varsity team, it's only a matter of time before she wins them over with her grit and determination, scoring a goal for the cause of Title IX equality.

Director-cowriter (and Shue's husband) Davis Guggenheim, fresh off "An Inconvenient Truth," moves the story at (melting) glacier pace. The title character's adolescent rebellions don't go much further than sulks, sass and an unauthorized trip to the New Jersey shore to neck with college boys. None of it feels particularly well observed, and the story has been reworked for crude, emotionally manipulative effects.

The blue-blooded Shue family has been recast as a struggling blue-collar clan, and the brother's death, in actuality a tree-climbing accident, was turned into a more wrenching auto wreck. Whenever the filmmakers had a choice between an honest moment and hackneyed formula, the cliche won.

Given that today there are some 5 million girls playing soccer in the United States, the relevance of this 30-year-old tale is questionable except as a footnote to history. Soccer families may take their daughters to see the film to build their can-do spirit, and look past its shortcomings to enjoy the message. Movie lovers seeking an inspirational experience will have to look elsewhere.

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