Champions, 2023.
Directed by Bobby Farrelly.
Starring Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Cheech Marin, Matt Cook, Ernie Hudson, Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, James Day, Keith Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe, Ryan DeLong, Bradley Edens, Alicia Johnston, Tom Sinclair, Barbara Pollard, Alexandra Castillo, Mike Smith, Scott Van Pelt, Jalen Rose, Seán Cullen, Jacob Blair, and Mike Smith.
SYNOPSIS:
A former minor-league basketball coach is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.
Champions is detestable for its first hour and merely tolerable for its second hour. The film marks the solo directorial debut of Bobby Farrelly (following in the footsteps of his Oscar-nominated brother Peter helming features such as Best Picture winner Green Book), who is about as heavy-handed and sappy as his sibling, although prioritizing broad comedy rather than political statements or solving racism.
No, Bobby Farrelly is up to something else; pointing out, through lowbrow comedy, the dehumanizing mistreatment of individuals with intellectual disabilities, not just from heartless people clinging onto the R-word but also those underestimating or not giving them enough credit to function and live a happy life despite their handicaps.
Based on the Spanish-language film by Javier Fesse and David Marqués (with Mark Rizzo performing screenplay duties on this adaptation), Champions follows J-league basketball assistant coach Marcus (Woody Harrelson doing his usual sardonic schtick), who, after getting into an argument with hookup partner Alex (Kaitlin Olson), has an even worse day on the court getting into a physical altercation with head coach Phil Perretti (Ernie Hudson) during a disagreement on how to set up the potentially game-winning final play.
The gist is that Marcus is so focused on winning, he doesn’t see his players as human beings and doesn’t realize that their star performer is grieving his grandmother and thus does not have enough of a clear head to be trusted with shooting the buzzer beater. Subsequently, Marcus is given a choice of 18 months of incarceration or community service coaching an adult basketball team of individuals with intellectual disabilities (Down syndrome is the condition most mentioned).
What’s frustrating about Champions is that the first has to put Marcus through the standard clichés regarding intellectually challenged individuals, as he grossly questions what to call them besides the R-word. Naturally, the judge says calling them by their names is a good start. Then the story reintroduces the Alex character as the sister of one of the players because there also needs to be a romantic subplot.
Aside from an introductory sequence showing off their distinct quirks and a montage exploring the daily lives of these players, demonstrating that they are capable of holding jobs, have hobbies, and can get from point A to point B by themselves (of course, all of these are on a case-by-case basis depending on how much the disability affects the person), it feels as if Champions is barely concerned with them and is only aspiring to be a generic redemptive tale of a sports coach that – much in the same way Green Book was a well-intentioned but shallow story about white people embracing and accepting Black people – is about the able-bodied having several revelations and their perceptions of intellectually disabled individuals shattered. It’s a noble idea, but it is executed with far too many side plots, unfunny humor, and too much focus on Marcus.
The greater issue is that during the first hour (this movie should be nowhere near 2+ hours), the jokes coming from the intellectually disabled players have an uncomfortable delivery that we are supposed to be laughing at their antics from a condescending, cutesy perspective (oh look, they’re inadvertently trashing the court). Marcus also has to go through the basics of learning that players, regardless of intellectual capabilities, or human beings.
Thankfully, a switch does flip in the second half, with more interest coming into the disabled characters and more humor coming from them pushing back against able-bodied people that think they know what’s best. The film is also not afraid to make them infallible, as the brother needs to learn that his sister can sleep with whoever she wants, even if it is his coach. Meanwhile, the sister needs to learn that if he wants to live in a group home, she needs to let go of the helicopter worrying and let him live his life.
Of course, all of this leads to some key games through the Special Olympics and an enticing offer for Marcus that could only be coming his way to exploit what he has done with the team. He also learns that winning isn’t everything. Buried underneath all the clichés and standard able-bodied drama of Champions is a well-meaning tale about intellectually disabled individuals standing up for themselves (it should also be mentioned that the performances across the board from them are fantastic and charming) and asserting who they are and what they can do, that never quite gets high enough for a slam-dunk. The script and direction needed a better game plan.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
Originally published March 8, 2023. Updated March 7, 2023.
