Page 4 of 4

WE ARE MARSHALL Another movie season, another inspirational sports yarn torn from the headlines of history. So in most respects, this traffics in the same kind of predictable underdog uplift championed in The Rookie, Miracle and oh-so-many-others. But real life provided a tragic twist, and that's what makes this otherwise familiar tale a cut above the norm. Set in 1970, it centers on what transpires in a West Virginia town after nearly all the members of the Marshall University football team (as well as several coaches and fans) are killed in a plane crash. After much hemming and hawing while trying to figure out the right thing to do, it's decided that the sports program will be resurrected from the ashes as a way of honoring the fallen players. Cue the entrance of Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughney), an outsider who arrives to serve as the new squad's head coach -- and to help community members move on with their own lives. Except for Anthony Mackie as the team captain, the actors portraying the players are a nondescript lot, meaning the emphasis is shifted to the adult characters. And it's these seasoned actors (among them David Strathairn and Ian McShane) who best punch across the heavy burden that threatens to crush the town's spirit. The movie is never as emotionally draining as this material requires, but it gives it the old college try and comes close to succeeding. **1/2

OPENS FRIDAY, JANUARY 12:

ALPHA DOG: Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake.

ARTHUR AND THE INVISIBLES: Animated; voices of Freddie Highmore, David Bowie.

CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER: Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li.

NOTES ON A SCANDAL: Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett.

THE PAINTED VEIL: Naomi Watts, Edward Norton.

PRIMEVAL: Dominic Purcell, Orlando Jones.

STOMP THE YARD: Columbus Short, Ne-Yo.

VOLVER: Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura.