Sweetwater, 2023.
Written and Directed by Martin Guigui.
Starring Everett Osborne, Cary Elwes, Jeremy Piven, Eric Roberts, Jim Caviezel, Richard Dreyfuss, Kevin Pollak, Emmaline, Mike Starr, Jim Meskimen, Jason Sklar, Ashani Roberts, Robert Ri’chard, Paul Hipp, Eric Etebari, Gary Clark Jr., Ernest Harden Jr., Wayne Federman, Billy Malone, Dahlia Waingort, Tim Kavanagh, Ca’Ron Jaden Coleman, Delijah McAlpin, Dave Cobert, Herbert ‘Flight Time’ Lang, Joshua King Brooks, and Steven Morse.
SYNOPSIS:
Hall of Famer Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton makes history as the first African American to sign an NBA contract, forever changing how the game of basketball is played.
While writer/director Martin Guigui’s Sweetwater is technically about the titular Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton (played with appropriate drive and dignity by Everett Osborne), the first Black basketball player to sign a contract with the NBA, the film succeeds more as an examination of the sport’s stagnation and its eventual evolution. Set in 1950, this is before the time of slam dunks, three-point shots, and flashy showmanship. Perhaps even more distracting is that many of the current NBA champions appear out of shape. In other words, it’s no surprise that the whole sport desperately needed to be injected with something refreshing and new.
Sweetwater plays for the Harlem Globetrotters (a group of players that were actually predominantly from Illinois, masquerading as something else for their act), a team comprised of Black athletes capable of defeating an NBA championship team while showboating and messing around. To be clear, this was also before the Globetrotters became a full-on carnival traveling act, meaning that there is another look of a different style of basketball, this one more in need of embracing its silly and comedic tone as a method to change the game.
Meanwhile, there is an inner debate going on between the NBA Board of Directors (with Richard Dreyfus playing the president), including Cary Elwes and Jeremy Piven as important figures leading the New York Knickerbockers (now known simply as the Knicks), regarding shaking up the game and potentially drafting more exciting, Black players. As to be expected, some owners are down with this progressive thinking, whereas others are concerned it might hurt their business model (especially owners of Southern-based teams).
Oddly enough, an element furthering the intrigue here has nothing to do with basketball or the movie. In the current world, MLB has also implemented new rules (a pitch clock, limited throws to first base when runners are aboard, larger bases that now resemble pizza boxes, and disengagement penalties) that, while they have nothing to do with race relations, are certainly meant to speed up the pacing of the game itself and create sustained excitement. The idea that all sports need to involve back then and that they still need to evolve to remain relevant is something that weighs on the mind while watching Sweetwater.
As a film about the changing of the guard, behind-closed-door conversations about the cause and effect of allowing Black players to sign NBA contracts and how certain racist parties will take that evolution is where Sweetwater is at its most effective. When it comes to the life of Sweetwater himself, the storytelling is weak. It squanders some fascinating dynamics, such as a love interest subplot where both characters are entering different worlds.
There isn’t much done with the idea that whether Sweetwater plays for Kevin Pollak’s Abe Saperstein or the NBA, his arc is about freedom. Then there are amateurish flashbacks depicting how he got the name Sweetwater in such a corny fashion that it should have been cut from the film, just like the present-day scenes that are bookending the narrative. It also doesn’t help that bits are homing in on the personal lives of far less interesting white characters.
The script’s approach to portraying racism in the backlash to a Black player joining the NBA is also rather basic and slightly hamfisted. Fortunately, Martin Guigui generally knows when to pull back on that sensationalism. But while Sweetwater functions as a compelling history lesson about basketball’s rule changes and growth, it fails everywhere else, only capable of exploring (whether it be characters, racism, or themes) at a frustratingly basic, surface level.
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
