"Undefeated" review: Oscar-nominated and inspired
(CBS) Comparison to "The Blind Side" will be inevitable, but the Oscar-nominated documentary "Undefeated" brings its own uplifting spirit to a sports film.
Directors Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin, who also shot the film, trusted their judgment and let the film breathe life into itself. The result is a powerful , with an ensemble cast that has created "real" and believable characters. You don't have to be a sports fan to care. Trust me.
The story revolves around the Manassas Tigers, a high school football team in a depressed, largely African-American area in North Memphis that has seen the population's prospects diminish after the closure of a Firestone tire factory.
The school's football team has never won a playoff game in its 110-year old history. Into the picture comes Coach Bill Courtney, the owner of a successful lumber business, who preaches that success on the field will only come as a result of good conduct off the field.
"Football reveals character," he says, it does not create it. He volunteers his time and devotes countless hours coaching these young me. Through sheer determination, hard work and more than a little charm, he gets his team to take him - and themselves - seriously.
The film focuses on three of the Tigers' main players. The most troubled is Chavis Daniels, a talented but ornery linebacker, who spent time behind bars as a juvenile before returning to the team as a junior. His transformation from a brash ballplayer to team leader gives wings to the film and will make you feel like a million bucks.
Montrail "Money" Brown and O.C. Brown are polar opposites. One is an academic whiz kid, whose football skills leave a lot to be desired, while the other is being scouted by universities across the country to play football, but can't turn in a decent grade to save his life. He is sent to live in a swanky home in order to receive the much needed tutoring required to turn his game - and his life- around.
Though the film may sound cliche, in the sense that the "white" coach comes in and turns around a largely poor, "black" group of ballplayers, it is anything but. Courtney is battling his own demons and at the end of the season, he dwells as much on what he was not able to achieve, as on the of the Tigers success.
Whether or not you are a sports fan, "Undefeated" is worth watching, as much for its incredible sensitivity and humor, as for the action that unfolds on the playing field. And no matter how much you try, you will get a little teary eyed. So bring the Kleenex.