A Shot at Glory

Movie Poster: A Shot at Glory

Like The River Wild, A Shot At Glory allowed me to write an original screenplay about something I was passionate about (and relatively accomplished at): soccer. I grew up playing the sport, and played at Dartmouth.

When a Scottish friend told me about the fierce rivalry between Glasgow’s “Old Firm” – Glasgow Rangers (the Protestant club) and Glasgow Celtic (the Catholic club) – I researched the rivalry on location and came away with the story I wanted to tell.

Robert Duvall loved the lead role of a second division football (soccer) manager who is estranged from his daughter because of her marriage to a one-time great player (Ally McCoist – a legendary goal scorer in his day, and present manager of Rangers).

Michael Corrente, the director, funded the film independently. We hired real players from Scotland’s professional leagues and rented the national stadium for the Scottish Cup final depicted in the script – a David and Goliath encounter between 2nd division Kilnockie (Duvall’s team) and the mighty Glasgow Rangers.

It was a whirlwind 35-day shooting schedule and a ball from start to finish. Mark Knopfler’s haunting score was the perfect icing on a lovely film cake for me.