Tag: Sports

UNSTOPPABLE – Review

A scene from UNSTOPPABLE. Courtesy of Amazon MGM

Generally, sports films aren’t for me but UNSTOPPABLE is an exception, because this remarkable true story is more that an inspiring sport film but also a true story of human character, strength and determination, and even love and family. It is more than it seems at first. The true story of champion wrestler Anthony Robles, born with only one leg but with an unstoppable drive to succeed in the sport he loves, is inspiring but so is the personal story that goes with it. Robles faced a lot of challenges from the start but had one stroke of really good luck of having a supportive, loving parent in his teenaged mother. Actually, UNSTOPPABLE is not really about sports (although it does have impressive wrestling scenes), but about human courage and drive, and well, heart.

Anthony Robles faces challenges beyond just having been born with one leg, and dealing with the obstacles that creates for his athletic dreams. Anthony and his mother, and all his younger siblings form a loving Latino family but they barely scrapping by financially and things are made more precarious and complex by his mother’s unreliable, bossy husband.

The film tells two emotionally powerful true stories, the sports one and the family one, in parallel, creating a uniquely uplifting and universal human story, both inspiring in its refusal to quit and its capacity for love. UNSTOPPABLE sports an impressive cast, with Jharrel Jerome as Robles, supported by Jennifer Lopez, Don Cheadle, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Pena, and even the real Anthony Robles in wrestling scenes that blend him and the young actor playing him, in an startlingly effective FX.

The film shows Anthony Robles as more than a remarkable athlete but a person of remarkable inner strength, character, and kindness, while still being a fearsome fighter on the wrestling mat. It is inspiring but all done without a false note or sentimentality.

Jharrel Jerome plays Anthony Robles who we meet as a high schooler, a star wrestler with dreams of college, and the oldest child in a large Hispanic family that is barely scraping by financially. Jennifer Lopez plays his mother Judy, the rock holding the family together. Judy had Anthony when she was only 16 and mother and son are exceptionally close, and in many ways, Anthony is her rock as well as the source of her hopes. Bobby Cannavale plays Judy’s husband Rick, Antony’s stepdad and the father of his younger siblings. While Rick can be fun and entertaining, he can also be demanding and critical, particularly towards Anthony. The younger kids all look up to Anthony, and depend on him and their mother, while their loud-mouthed dad bosses everyone around. Worse, Rick likes to drink, is unreliable and has trouble holding a job, putting even more on Judy. Things don’t get better as the story unfolds.

Anthony dreams of becoming a NCAA champ but he is turned down by his first choice college, University of Iowa, which is widely considered to have the best wrestling program in the country. The coach quickly dismisses Anthony from consideration, feeling he is too big a gamble for a program already on top. His other top-pick colleges also pass him over. Although Drexel offers him a scholarship, he decides to go to Arizona State University, so he can stay home and help his mom. When he later goes to the mat against a top-seeded wrestler from University of Iowa, it’s time for some pay back.

The two threads of Anthony’s life are told in tandem, sometimes seems to mirror each other, but it is like two stories, with Anthony often the only connection. While UNSTOPPABLE has the usual basic outlines of any fact-based sports story, the personal one that is told long side it gives it an extra depth, and human connection.

The excellent wrestling scenes deserve special mention, as the FX are impressive, even if you are not a wrestling fan (which I am not). The real Anthony Robles appears in the wrestling scenes, where the film uses camera work, special effects and editing to merge him with the young actor Jharrel Jerome. The effect is seamless and fascinating. Watching Robles turn the tables on opponents by wrestling on his own terms is quite something, and you get a real sense of why some opponents complained that having one less leg to grab was actually to Robles advantage, as wily, flexible Robles slips away from their grasp. The scenes are quite thrilling, and satisfying, to watch, after Robles faces such dismissive treatment by some coaches or opponents.

The cast is superb in both these story lines, as is the storytelling from Oscar-winning film editor-turned-director William Goldenberg. As Anthony, Jharrel Jerome is in nearly every scene, and worked hard to build up his upper body muscle mass, master Anthony’s Arizona accent, his smooth movements on the crutches Anthony used all his life and, importantly, his wrestling moves, so fans of the sport would feel they were watching the real thing. Jennifer Lopez is excellent as his mother Judy, a complex character who is more than just a support for her son, but someone with her own issues. While Bobby Cannavale could easily made Rick a one-note villain, he makes him a more complicated character, haunted in his own way but with misplaced anger taken out on the family.

Fortunately for Anthony, his high school coach Bobby Williams is more of a father figure. Michael Pena is a steady rock as the high school coach, who stays involved even after his young friend goes on to college. Don Cheadle, as always, is excellent as Arizona State wrestling coach Shawn Charles, coming across at first as a hard-nosed, even unfeeling, but gradually softening as he learns the depths of this young wrestler’s inner (and outer) strengths. Michael Pena is steady rock as Anthony’s high school coach who still has his young friend’s back as he goes on to college.

Unable to get a wrestling scholarship, Anthony also takes a job on top of everything else, as a cleaner at the airport, where he wins over everyone on the crew with is positive nature and work ethic.

What Anthony is doing as he pursues his wrestling dreams and what he copes with at home are both enormous challenges – and to have to juggle them at the same time, and successfully, is more than you would think anyone could do. Yet that show of strength and character is exactly why this is such a great true story. If you feel in need for a little break and uplift from depressing news, this well-made, true-story drama can be just the tonic.

UNSTOPPABLE debuts streaming on Prime Video on Thursday, Jan 16.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

IT AIN’T OVER – Review

Yogi Berra smiling. Photo credit: Getty. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

It doesn’t get any more delightful than the surprising, warm documentary about beloved baseball legend Yogi Berra, IT AIN’T OVER. Surprising? Yes, as this well-made bio documentary looks back at Yogi’s outstanding baseball career as player, something overshadowed and even forgotten by fans, as he became best known as a lovable pop culture icon and for his “Yogi-isms,” quotable phrases like “it’s deja vu all over again,” “when you come to a fork in the road, take it” and “it ain’t over until it’s over.” Yet Yogi Berra was a baseball player whose record put him among the greats of the game, As actor and baseball fan Billy Crystal put it, Yogi was “the most overlooked superstar in the history of baseball.”

The numbers are impressive, jaw-dropping even, considering what we might think we know about Yogi Berra. With 10 World Series rings (still a record today for a player), three MVP awards in the American League, 18 All-Star Game appearances, Yogi Berra was a Hall of Fame catcher who caught the only – still the only – perfect game in a World Series in 1956. He was a powerhouse slugger who could turn balls that were not even over the plate into home runs.

IT AIN’T OVER starts with Berra’s baseball-playing childhood and his career as a big leaguer. There are plenty of thrilling moments with other baseball greats, including Jackie Robinson and Joe DiMaggio, as well as how Berra was treated by the press who had trouble giving credit to a player who did not look like the tall, blonde baseball ideal. The stats are impressive. In 1950, Berra had 597 at-bats, hit .322 with 124 RBI and 28 home runs and struck out only 12 times. A factoid from the record books, and the film’s notes, in 1950 “Berra hit 2.33 home runs for every strikeout. He drove in 10.33 runs for every strikeout. When Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927, he hit 0.67 home runs for every strikeout and batted in 1.85 runs for every strikeout…In MLB history, there are only two players with more than 350 home runs and fewer than 500 strikeouts: Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra.” As a catcher, Berra still hold the record for most RBI for players primarily at that position, and he caught a record 184 shutouts in his career, followed by Cardinals great Yadier Molina at 175. And there are more records and firsts in this should-be-storied career.

How could this be? Yogi’s baseball career should have made him a legend. Instead, we tend to remember him as a clownish figure, a lovable fellow with a knack for managing the English language. Somehow, Yogi Berra’s impressive baseball career got overshadowed, as he became a manager, then an advertising pitchman, even a cartoon character, and a beloved pop culture figure known for his memorable if puzzling sayings. IT AIN’T OVER goes a ways towards setting the record straight, while providing audiences an entertaining cinema experience.

This excellent, entertaining, even heartwarming documentary goes a long ways to giving us a fuller picture of the man and the athlete, with interviews from former Yankee greats Derek Jeter, Joe Torre, Mariano Rivera, Willie Randolph, Don Mattingly, Tony Kubek and Ron Guidry. along with interviews with Whitey Herzog, Bob Costas, Vin Scully, Billy Crystal and Yogi’s childhood neighbor and friend Joe Garagiola. There is plenty of archival footage, on and off the baseball diamond, and lots of family stills, along with interviews with his granddaughter (and producer) Lindsay Berra, and his sons Tim, Larry and Dale. The documentary covers Berra’s career as a player, his personal life with his wife Carmen, his career as a coach and later an ad pitchman and of course those famous “Yogi-isms,” not all of which he actually said. Even that famous “It ain’t over until it’s over” actually started as “It ain’t over until it’s mathematical” which makes more sense but is less memorable. Real Yogi-isms have a strange kind of logic that the fakes don’t.

The documentary gives us a glimpse into the real Yogi. A kid from an Italian immigrant family, Yogi grew up in the working class Italian neighborhood in St. Louis known as the Hill. Yogi was born Lawrence Peter Berra (the Americanized version of the Italian name his parents gave him). As a kid, he loved playing baseball, as did his older brothers, and earned the nickname “yogi” for his tendency to sit cross-legged on the ground while waiting for his turn to bat. Across the street in his old neighbor was his pal Joe Garagiola, the second best baseball player on the street. A die-hard Cardinals fan, Yogi hoped to play for the home team but while Joe became a Cardinal, Yogi ended up with the New York Yankees. Yogi met and fell in love with his wife Carmen when she was working as a waitress at the legendary Hill restaurant Biggies. The documentary tells in better, with plenty of colorful baseball details but it doesn’t get any more classically St. Louis than that.

The story of Yogi Berra is so fascinating because he is a figure people think they know but in fact are missing whole aspects of his real life, of the man himself and his amazing accomplishments. There is great fun, and plenty of “wows” as this doc peels back the layers on this accomplished but modest man, a big personality who made others feel welcome and included, as he did for Jackie Robinson. While Jackie faced discrimination and racism from some other players, Yogi reached out to make Jackie feel welcome and part of the gang.

Lots of these tales are told by the people who were there or the people who knew Yogi personally, giving this documentary both warmth and the ring of truth. Funny stories abound but so do those that are touching, including of slights, towards a kindhearted, down-to-earth man who was smarter that people assumed. Yogi did not look like the era’s ideal of tall, blonde, handsome baseball player. At a mere 5-foot-7 and rather squat, with an odd face with a gap-tooth smile and wingy ears, the press compared him to a gnome and worse. But he was kind of cute, good-natured, and fun-loving, but most of all, a giant on the playing field.

There is hardly a dull moment in this thoroughly delightful film, with astounding revelations, interesting inside baseball facts, heartwarming and even heart-tugging stories, and an unparalleled human warmth, as you gain a deeper understanding of a man you thought you knew. You will leave realizing that Yogi Berra was one of baseball’s all-time greatest players, despite pop culture’s resistance to letting him be who he really was, and not just a funny character it has presented him as.

You can’t spend a more enjoyable and informative 98 minutes, if you are any kind baseball fan at all, than watching this delightful film about the wonderful little baseball giant Yogi Berra. IT AIN’T OVER delivers the goods – just as Yogi did, on the field, and off.

IT AIN’T OVER opens Friday, May 19, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

CHAMPIONS – Review

(L to R) Kevin Iannucci as Johnathan, Kaitlin Olson as Alex, James Day Keith as Benny, Madison Tevlin as Cosentino, Cheech Marin as Julio, and Woody Harrelson as Marcus in director Bobby Farrelly’s CHAMPIONS, a Focus Features release. Credit : Shauna Townley/Focus Features

Woody Harrelson stars as a former pro basketball coach court-ordered to coach a Special Olympics team with intellectual disabilities, in director Bobby Farrelly’s CHAMPIONS. With such a premise, one might worry the film could go one of two ways: offensive or cloyingly sentimental. Bobby Farrelly brings enough signature Farrelly brothers humor to CHAMPIONS to make it a funny, if slightly raunchy, comedy and while it avoids the first issue, it does lean to the sentimental although it dodges the cloying part. The result is a more entertaining film than one might expect, largely due to the appealing cast of actors with disabilities, although it generally hits all the expected sports movie beats. It’s not THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY but this warm film is more enjoyable than the premise might suggest.

Coach Marcus Marakovich (Harrelson) is a jerk, in both his personal and professional life, We first meet him being rude to a woman the morning after a Tinder hook-up and he follows that clueless, arrogant behavior by challenging his boss, Coach Phil Perretti (Ernie Hudson) on the court where he is assistant coach. Marcus is a coach in the NBA but just barely – an assistant for a minor-league team in Des Moines, Iowa, having been demoted from the big teams as his once-promising career stalled due to his bad behavior. Phil is Marcus’s friend from way back but Marcus’ defiant attitude leaves him little choice. Fired from his job, Marcus arrogantly blusters and drinks heavily, getting behind the wheel of his car and colliding with a cop car. The crash brings him before a judge, who offers Marcus community service, coaching a Special Olympics basketball team made up of players with intellectual challenges.

A deadpan Cheech Marin plays Julio, the manager of the program to which Marcus is sentenced for 90 days. Marcus is his usual jerk self as he walks into the gym to meet his team but he is briefly hopeful when he spots a team mate, Darius (Joshua Felder),

with some real skills. But the young Black man takes one look at the new coach, says “nope” and leaves, which the team tells him means he won’t play for him (we learn why later).

The team members all have their signature quirks, like a player, Showtime (Bradley Edens), who only wants to try for baskets by throwing the ball with his back to the basket, throws he always misses. The actually disabled actors in the roles bring more personality, pointed humor, and fun to the sports films than one expects or usually sees, which gives the film a refreshing feel. A couple of standouts are Madison Tevlin as Cosentino, the sole female teammate, who sassily puts everyone in their place, and Kevin Iannucci as Johnny, an animal-loving, shower-avoiding teammate who is a kind of leader for the team as well as the brother of Alex (Kaitlin Olson), who plays the love interest role for coach.

Harrelson does a nice job but he is greatly aided by Olson, who brings a refreshing sharp humor to her love interest role. The two have great comic chemistry together and the romance works as well. There is a nicely played scene when Harrelson meets Johnny’s sister and is shocked to realize she is that earlier Tinder date. Cheech Marin’s cool, slightly wry demeanor as the program director is a nice balance to Harrelson’s loud self-importance, with Marin quietly taking Harrelson’s character down a notch every time.

The film is actually a remake of a Spanish one, Campeones, (and yes, it is a basketball team in the original, not a soccer team). While this version retains the original comedy’s table-turning by the teammates on the coach, it softens some humor that might seem to make fun of disabilities in that 2018 Spanish film, although both film have the same inclusion and understanding goal. Bobby Farrelly directed THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY and several others with his brother Peter Farrelly but the two have directed separate projects in recent years, Peter directing the Oscar-winning GREEN BOOK but also THE GREATEST BEER RUN, which was not the greatest film by any measure.

While this little sports comedy, with a positive message and image-positive portrayal of disabilities, this is no THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, it is likable, funny, and heart-warming without being overly sentimental. This sweet, funny film is something families with a member with intellectual disabilities might particularly enjoy, for the way the cast handle things and their confidence. It also would have been a good film for younger audiences, but bad language and too frank sexual situations undermines that.

CHAMPIONS opens Friday, Mar. 10, in theaters.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

80 FOR BRADY – Review

Rita Moreno plays Maura, Jane Fonda plays Trish, Sally Field plays Betty, and Lily Tomlin plays Lou in 80 For Brady from Paramount Pictures.

You might expect a Superbowl movie to be about a dad and his son who loves football, but 80 FOR BRADY is something else – a comedy starring some great iconic actresses – Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, Sally Field, and Jane Fonda – about four best friends in their 80s and 70s who love football, and particularly Tom Brady, and dream of going to the Super Bowl. Brady, now the oldest pro quarterback ever in the NFL, serves a a producer but the real thrill is that cast of those other seasoned pros.

Inspired by a true story, 80 FOR BRADY was written by Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern (BOOKSMART) and is directed by Kyle Marvin. The stars play four these long-time best friends who first bonded as fans of Tom Brady, back in his early days. Now, prompted by a radio contest for tickets, they are determined to go to the 2017 Super Bowl to see their hero play for the New England Patriots against the Atlanta Falcons. Lou (Lily Tomlin), a cancer survivor, sparks the idea for this trip of a lifetime, and hatches the plan to win the radio contest for tickets. Math professor Betty (Sally Field) calculates the steep odds against them, but they are all game to try for one last grand adventure. Both Maura (Rita Moreno) and Trish (Jane Fonda) are quickly on-board. Maura is a sharp-witted widow who is still grieving and living at the assisted living facility her late husband needed, even though she clearly does not belong there. Jane Fonda’s Trish is a former local TV spokes-model turned romance writer (whose novels revolve around another NFL player Rob Gronkowski), who has an amazing collection of wigs and a penchant for falling in love too quickly. With plucky determination and some amazing luck, these pals dance around obstacles in their way, tossing off quips and one-liners in their bedazzled jerseys, and charming the heck out of us.

These iconic pros are awfully cute and funny in this light bit of sports comedy. Sometimes these all-star casts don’t work but this one sure does, as they have great chemistry together and the skill to spin familiar stuff into laughs and bits of warm moments.

Actually, this marvelous cast is the best thing about this light sports-themed diversion. They squeeze every bit of entertainment out of this buddy-movie iteration. We’ve seen several movies about aging male friends in this kind of adventure, so it is nice to finally give the women their chance. You don’t need to be a football fan to enjoy this comic treat – a cinematic chips and chicken wings snack.

These seasoned pros are effortless in entertaining us with this thin material, as they dodge their way past problems, win a hot wings contest, dominate a poker game, crash an A-list party and get loopy after accidentally ingesting drugs (a sequence that includes a room full of Guy Fieri copies). Tom Brady appears periodically, like an inspirational figure who gives encouragement to Lou in little fantasy moments anytime she sees his image on a poster or a big screen.

While there is a buddy-movie road trip theme, these gals in their 70s and 80s aren’t dumb – no cross-country trek in a questionable vehicle for them. They fly to their destination. Of course, getting out of town itself presents its problems, includes evading an assisted living carer who doesn’t want to interrupt a nap and too much luggage. The adventures grow, in the pre-game hoopla and the game itself. But the first adventure is getting those Superbowl tickets to begin with.

Nothing very unexpected happens and there are plenty of familiar set pieces and some corny jokes (and a few stereotypical ones) but these skilled pros skate past all that, to milk every drop of comedy out of the material. There are mix-ups and mess-ups, and the friends get separated, which allows the stars to be featured in their own comic adventure before coming back together. Each character has her own issues and each star gets her featured moments in between the ensemble scenes. You may find yourself smiling in spite of it all, putty in the hands of Tomlin, Fields, Morano and Fonda.

Besides Tom Brady, there are other celebrity appearances (including a particularly delightful cameo by Patton Oswalt). Sara Gilbert appears as Tomlin’s daughter, calling her from home about her health, and Bob Balaban plays Betty’s befuddled professor husband who depends on her for everything. Guy Fieri hosts the hot wings eating contest and more, and Billy Porter is half-time choreographer Gugu who recruits the gals for a little dancing. Harry Hamlin has a featured part as a retired NFL pro who takes to Fonda’s Trish.

Sure, 80 FOR BRADY is silly and predictable but it is surprisingly charming, due to its delightful cast. Just watching these icons work is a joy, in a story that also has a little anti-ageist, woman-power flare.

80 FOR BRADY opens Friday, Feb, 3, at Plaza Frontenac and other theaters.

RATING: 1.5 out of 4 stars

Review: ‘Big Fan’

bigfanmovie

BIG FAN, originally reviewed from Sundance by Scott here at WAMG, is a movie that’s been getting a lot of praise from various critics, which made me curious as to why people have been enjoying it so much. Inherently, it’s this curiosity that has led me to see the film for myself and find out “why all the fuss?”

The film, written and directed by Robert D. Siegel, is his first directorial outing. Prior to BIG FAN, Siegel has written THE ONION MOVIE and most importantly, THE WRESTLER, which was one helluva great film, directed by Darren Aronofsky. So, this leads me to my first inclination… would certain films be better if they weren’t directed by the writer? After seeing BIG FAN, I am inclined to believe this, in some cases, it may be true. THE WRESTLER would not have been as good, in theory, ifSiegel had directed it himself.

With that said, I cannot write BIG FAN off as a total bust. It’s not. On the other hand, it’s not an easy film to watch either, which ultimately becomes part of it’s success. The story follows New York Giants super-fan Paul, played by comedian PattonOswalt (THE KING OF QUEENS, OBSERVE AND REPORT). Paul is obsessed with his team, and especially his hero Quantrell Bishop. He lives at home with his mother, works a crumby job collecting fees for a parking garage and has one friend and fellow fan named Sal (KevinCorrigan) whom he watches games and debates football with.

That’s Paul’s life. Nothing fancy, no ambitions and he likes it that way. His family can’t stand that he’s a loser and that he seems to be OK with that. Everything changes suddenly when Paul and Sal spot Bishop at a gas station and follow him to a Manhattan high-rolling strip club and things get “complicated” from there. After his encounter with Bishop, Paul has to struggle with the choice between doing what’s “right” by everyoneelse’s standards, or doing what’s best for “his” team which is what’s right by his standards.

BIG FAN is a dark, uneasy and altogether uncomfortable movie to watch. I love sports, even if football’s not my main preference, but anyone who sees this film, super-fan or otherwise, should know that you’ll be in for 86 minutes of discomfort. That doesn’t mean it’s a poorly made movie, but rather that I believeSiegel wants us to be uncomfortable. Paul is not a very likable guy, but it’s not because he’s a jerk or a psycho… it’s because few of us will be able to truly relate to him.

Despite the various flaws in the film’s production, including an overly video-esque visual quality to the film, Siegel does a great job of setting the audience up for an entirely unpredictable and satisfying end to this progressively dark story. Watching BIG FAN is equivalent to driving past a gruesome, brutal and bloody train wreck in which you know you shouldn’t look at and you try not to look at, but inherently end up gawking at with an almost hypnotic inability to pull your eyes away from.

Siegel has written the film in such a way that the suspense and intensity draw the viewer in, pulling at our innate morbid curiosity. We do not consciously wish any harm upon poor Paul, but at the same time we can’t help but wonder what his seemingly alien lifestyle will lead to, actively imagining the worst that may happen to him at every step of the journey.

Overall, after the not-always-enjoyable rounds of head-shaking, seat-squirming and jaw-dropping that I experienced watching BIG FAN, I can honestly say it’s not perfect, but it is ultimately an awkwardly enjoyable film.

BIG FAN opens in Saint Louis at the Plaza Frontenac cinema on Friday, September 25, 2009.