I didn't expect the next film from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim to be a fictitious tale about a teenage girl, but stranger things have happened. Gracie is a fairly standard sports movie, but with an attention-grabbing twist: a girl trying to land a spot on an all-boys high-school soccer team in the 1970s. It's a compelling film at times, as well as wholesome entertainment for families, but never breaks free from the trademark cliches of the inspirational sports-film genre that Disney and other studios have been churning out regularly for the past few years.

Gracie (Carly Schroeder) has three brothers, all of whom spend a lot of time being drilled in soccer techniques by their competition-obsessed father (Dermot Mulroney). He dismisses his 15-year-old daughter, though, and won't even acknowledge her when she asks to play with them. After Gracie's older brother dies in a car accident, she decides to honor his memory by joining his soccer team and beating the local rival, something her brother was never quite able to achieve. Her family won't take her seriously, her would-be boyfriend (Christopher Shand) laughs at her, the school won't let her train in the only gym with free weights, and at first she can't find a single person to support her dream. But you know what happens to protagonists in sports movies who have a dream -- you can't keep them down forever.

Odds and ends from a fairly slow Monday:

• What's better than a film inspired by the true events in the life of Elisabeth and Andrew Shue? How about hearing that Dermot Mulroney has just signed on to play a part? Is that not a fantastic way to start the day? Directed by Elisabeth's husband Davis Guggenheim, Gracie revolves around a young girl who fights to play on an all-male soccer team after her brother dies. Mulroney will play the girl's father.
• I'll admit I haven't been too up on Jim Carrey's upcoming psychological thriller, The Number 23. Taking charge behind the camera will be Joel Schumacher (who I like to classify as a "hit and miss" type of guy) with a story that centers on a dude who becomes obsessed with a book he feels is based on his life. While there's no trailer yet, New Line has released a pretty interesting teaser site that includes a ton of random links to websites based on the number 23. It's odd, but I'm sure there's a pattern there -- I just don't feel like spending all day trying to uncover one. Feel free to tell us what you find. [via JoBlo]
• With submissions up 30% this year and 18 features in competition, the 14th annual Hamptons International Film Festival announced it will kick things off with the world premiere of The Situation, Philip Haas' Iraq war drama. Fest is divided into two categories with six narratives and six documentaries competing for Golden Starfish Awards and another six taking part in the Films of Conflict and Resolution competition. The Hamptons International Film Festival runs from October 18-22.

Odds and ends from Monday:

• For those of you who often wonder whatever happened to Elisabeth Shue and brother Andrew Shue, well -- wait -- who?  Oh yeah, she was in The Karate Kid and he was in, um, Melrose Place. Now I remember. Cool. Variety announced that both siblings will play roles in the film Gracie, to be directed by Elisabeth's husband, Davis Guggenheim. Supposedly, the pic is based on events that occurred when the Shue's were young and will center on a young girl who fights to play on the boy's varsity soccer team after her champion brother dies. Eh, I'd rather another Adventure in Babysitting.
• Okay, I need to ask this question: Why is it that every single horror script I report on has to do with someone wandering into a strange and mysterious place? Why can't we have any scary films that take place in, say, JC Penny? Anyway, Gold Circle Films has pre-emptively picked up the spec script, Anvil, written by Adam Sussman. While, unfortunately, pic doesn't take place in JC Penny, it does revolve around a girl who stumbles into a remote Kansas town and learns that everyone there is really weird. Blah blah blah -- stuff happens.
• Contrary to earlier reports that had Oliver Stone directing a film about the 2002 coup in Venezuela, the director said today that he is most certainly not involved in any way, shape or form. During his weekly television show on Sunday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez claimed a movie was in the works, that Stone was involved and took pleasure in the fact that the United States would probably be against it. After all, Chavez feels the US created the coup in order to force the trouble-making leader out of office. Even if Stone is planning to make this picture, with his ode to 9/11 about to make a splash on the big screen, now wouldn't be the best time to announce a movie that may or may not turn out to be anti-American.