A One Mann’s Movies review of “Champions” (2023).
“Champions” is the first solo-directed effort of Bobby Farrelly and a remake of a 2021 film with Spanish/Saudi Arabian origins. Now, the Farrelly brothers – Peter and Bobby – famously directed “Dumb and Dumber” in 1994 and “There’s Something About Mary” in 1998, forever changing my view of hair-gel and zippers. They proceeded to double-down on the bad taste with films over the next several years including “My, Myself and Irene” and “Shallow Hal”. These are films that were moderately cringe-worthy at the time, but through today’s heightened lens of wokeism, they are almost beyond the pale.
Peter Farrelly got a hall-pass from my for directing the wonderful, and indeed Oscar-winning, “Green Book“. But when I saw that his brother Bobby had made “Champions” and it was about a basketball team with mental disabilities, I saw red flags everywhere. But I needn’t have worred. For the film stays the right side of tasteful, and although I don’t think it will stay long in the memory it is actually a really nice feelgood movie for these troubled times.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
We are in Des Moines, Iowa. Marcus (Woody Harrelson) is a stuggling basketball coach on the downslope of his career. He knows a lot about basketball tactics, but is about as empathic with the players as a brick. When convicted of a DuI, his 90 days of community service involves coaching “The Friends”: a basketball team of people with mental disabilities. His torture is at least partially assuaged by a renewed romantic relationship with Alex (Kaitlin Olson), the sister of one of the players Johnny (Kevin Iannucci).
Certification:
UK: 12; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC: “Moderate sex references, discrimination, infrequent strong language”).
Talent:
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Kaitlyn Olson, Matt Cook, Kevin Iannucci, Cheech Marin, Madison Tevlin, Ernie Hudson.
Directed by: Bobby Farrelly.
Written by: Mark Rizzo, Javier Fesser & David Marqués.
Twitter Handle: #ChampionsMovie.
Ernie (“Ghostbusters”) Hudson and Woody Harrelson face off with some coaching conflicts. (Source: Focus Features).
“Champions” Review:
Positives:
- There is a feelgood buzz that runs throughout this movie. Like similar sports zero-to-hero films (e.g. “The Mighty Ducks”) the gentle humour pervades every scene, and I laughed more than the six times required for a comedy.
- “The Friends” are portrayed as a team of individuals with their own lives, their own independance and their own quirky sense of humour. It’s a nice role-positive portrayal. And because the film delves nicely into the needs and wants of this special community, the laughs were always ‘with’ the cast, not ‘at’ the cast.
- Woody Harrelson is a safe pair of hands for this type of comedy. His laconic, laid back delivery reminded me of his role in “Zombieland”. And hats off to some of the unknown actors in here: Kevin Iannucci does a particularly good job as Johnny.
- There’s an obvious plot point, involving a particular basketball shot, that you can just predict is going to get reintroduced at a decisive moment in the film. And I wasn’t wrong! But the script actually managed to surprise me with how it was handled.
- The music selection by Michael Franti is well-chosen. A range of banging tunes that add to the feelgood nature of the piece. The cast dance and mime to “Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba during the end titles, which is fun.
- There’s also some slick editing going on, particularly with the well-shot and fast-paced basketball matches.
Negatives:
- I’m afraid I was never sold on the relationship between Marcus and Alex. Woody Harrelson is coming up on my age – 62. And although he looks pretty good on it, Kaitlyn Olson is 15 years younger and the difference shows. The film indicates that they met on Tinder, but I’m not convinced that Alex would have ‘swiped right’ on Marcus. He’s certainly punching there.
Summary Thoughts on “Champions”
I’ve raised lots of positives for this one, and only one negative. So why isn’t my rating higher? Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed this movie and smiled a lot. And the matinee audience I was with seemed to enjoy it too. It’s light, inoffensive and feelgood.
That being said, I don’t think it was particularly memorable as a movie… it’s one of those that I might struggle to remember in a few months time. But it is certainly worth your attention if you are in need of some cheering up.
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Trailer for “Champions”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCHiWnj5Oek .
