In The Miracle of Bern, football is the sport, specifically the 1954 World Cup, which Germany won, inspiring national euphoria after the shame and hardship of the post-war decade.

Matthias (Louis Klamroth) serves as mascot for the Germans’ star player, The Boss (Sascha Gopel), who despite his nickname (or perhaps because of it) spends most of his time on the bench. Matthias has his own problems, as his father (Peter Lohmeyer) has just returned from a Russian POW camp, and his failure to readjust is destroying the family.

These two strands are generally effective, if a little blunt. At one point Matthias finds he has just been served his pet rabbit for dinner. As he runs off in tears the soundtrack soars as if the Berlin Wall has just come down.

Still, subtlety isn’t everything. Many of the scenes are well handled, especially those on the pitch, and the cinematography and period detail are impressive. Acting-wise, Peter Franke steals the admittedly poorly guarded show, as the team’s world-weary manager.

However, the script is predictable and hackneyed. The football plot makes no attempt to surprise, so any child will foresee the outcome.

The family scenes are better, but unlike Wondrous Oblivion, this script shows no interest in the more dramatic potential subplots. How do you rebuild a marriage after twelve years apart? How do you feel about a son you never knew existed? The film barely touches on any of these questions.

Nonetheless, The Miracle of Bern is fairly amusing and somewhat refreshing after our own attempt at a football film this summer, the deeply unpleasant Football Factory.

(Released by Bavaria Film International; not rated by MPAA.)