Thirteen-year-old Reagan Wills (Siena Agudong) has posters of Alex Morgan all over her bedroom walls. She aspires to follow in the footsteps of the Olympic soccer star. However, her older brother Logan (Matt Cornett) is the high school football team MVP, and the sports star of the family, and Reagan’s mother and father (Chuti Tiu, Jim Klock) seem to devote all of their attention to him as Logan is being sought after by several college football coaches with scholarships in hand.

Reagan tries out for the top soccer club in the area, Crush, but soon discovers that mean girl Claire Bishop (Jessica Treska) and her wealthy real-estate mogul father (Andrew Rush) control everything, and since Claire doesn’t like Reagan, she is cut from the team. Upset, Reagan goes home and starts tearing things off her bedroom walls. However, when Regan tries rip down the life-size poster of Alex Morgan, she can’t. She tries harder, but slips and falls and bumps her head. When Reagan wakes up, she is shocked to find Alex Morgan there in her room talking to her…she had come out of the poster! Alex encourages Reagan to never give up on her dreams, and the two start a daily soccer training routine.

When Reagan meets the new kid at school, Ben (Colin Critchley), she’s immediately smitten with him, but Alex insists that she stay focused on her sports goals. Ben tells Reagan about a soccer team that still has open positions, The Breakaways—named for the fact that everyone on the team has broken away, or got cut, from other, better, teams. This team hardly resembles the well-oiled Crush club, with its excellent facilities and military-like coach. The Breakaways have no field of their own—they illegally sneak into a municipal storage area to practice and scurry to hide whenever someone shows up. The team doesn’t even have enough players to field a game—one of the players is only 9 years old, the goalie is allergic to grass, and the coach is a British guy who claims to have played professional football, but doesn’t seem to know the rules or proper techniques. So it’s up to Reagan to whip this team into shape, using the techniques she is learning from Alex Morgan, in hopes that they can make it to the Diamond Cup tournament.

Alex & Me is an fun, heartwarming, and entertaining family-friendly story with a message to never give up on your dreams, or stop believing in yourself. However, to achieve those goals, you must be willing to put in the hard work, and accept that you will need to fail before you can succeed. Over the course of the film, we see the relationship Reagan has with her family develop and grow. Even though Logan is already a sports star in his own right, Reagan’s persistence and dedication inspires him to do more, and Reagan’s parents slowly realize how they have been neglecting their daughter. We also see Reagan’s self confidence increase as she trains with Alex, and discovers a tremendous inner strength she didn’t know she had.

The film is quite funny at times, whether it’s the Bad News Bears-style team of misfits, the hilarious made-up British colloquialisms that come out of Coach Nigel’s (Jerry Trainor) mouth, or the physical humor—such as when people see Reagan interacting with an non-existant Alex Morgan. Siena Agudong is excellent in the lead role, delivering a solid physical, emotional and comedic performance. Unfortunately, it is often evident that Alex Morgan is not a trained/experienced actress, and her delivery and lines feel a little awkward at times. Though, I doubt this will bother younger viewers as much, who will just be excited to see the soccer star.

The Blu-ray looks great, with a clean, detailed picture that captures the colorful outdoor soccer action beautifully. The audio track provides clear dialogue, and makes nice use of the surround and stereo channels to provide ambiance and enhance what is being seen on screen, such as surrounding the viewing with the cheering of crowds, or hearing the sound of Reagan’s bicycle move across your living room as she crosses from one side of the screen to the other. Both the Blu-ray and DVD include the same selection of bonus material—an outtake and about 19 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes/interviews. The discs come packed in a standard HD keepcase with a cardboard slipcover, and an insert containing the digital copy redemption instructions.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:25:36)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, French Dolby Digital 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, French

DVD:

• 480p / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, French Dolby Digital 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, French

Digital (Redemption Deadline 6/30/2019):

• Digital Copy
  HD digital copy of the film. Redemption site redirects to Movies Anywhere, but code can be entered direct at Vudu to simultaneously unlock the copy in both Movies Anywhere and UltraViolet.

Extras:
All bonus features are included on both discs.

• Aspire To Inspire: Success in Hard Work (5:37)
  The cast and crew talk about the film’s message that hard work is required to make your dreams come true. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with co-producer Alex Morgan, writer/director Eric Champnella, producers Mike Karz and William Bindley, and stars Siena Agudong (“Reagan Wills”) and Jim Klock (“Joe Wills”).
• Getting To Know Alex Morgan (4:15)
  Athlete Alex Morgan talks about how she got into sports and her struggle when she first started out. Writer/director Eric Champnella, producer Mike Karz, and star Siena Agudong talk about being inspired by Alex, and what it was like working with her.
• Soccer, Script To Set: A Playbook on Alex & Me (9:07)
  Behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. The cast and filmmakers talk about working with Alex Morgan, while Alex talks about her experiences acting in her first film, and getting tips from co-star Siena Agudong. Includes interviews with co-producer Alex Morgan, writer/director Eric Champnella, producer William Bindley, and stars Siena Agudong, Matt Cornett (“Logan Wills”), and Chuti Tiu (“Anne Wills”).
• Outtake (:45)
  Reagan’s family pulls up in a van and asks her to come with them…and hilarity ensues as dad gets a bit overzealous.

Final Thoughts:

Alex & Me is a fun, entertaining family-friendly story with a positive underlying message for children to never give up on their dreams, and to be willing to put in hard work to achieve their goals. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great and includes a solid selection of bonus material as well as a digital copy of the film. The combo pack also includes a DVD disc, which is perfect for repeat showings in the mini-van on the way to soccer practice and your own girls and boys try to follow in Alex Morgan’s footsteps.