Champions Review
Champions is something of a throwback to feel good sports films of yesteryear, but in the end shows its worth as a pleasing vehicle of representation despite its rather basic script.
Directed by Bobby Farrelly and being a remake of a 2018 Spanish film, it follows Marcus, played by Woody Harrelson, a minor league basketball coach with his career stunted due to his self-centredness and lack of tact. After embarrassing himself at a televised game and being charged with drink driving, Marcus finds himself sentenced to three months community service during which he must coach a team of intellectually disabled athletes looking to secure a spot in the Special Olympics, but with seemingly little chance of succeeding. Despite his initial prejudices and dreams of coaching in the NBA, Marcus works hard to mould his players into a cohesive squad, with their talents and teamwork soon producing results. He also takes a romantic interest in Alex (Kaitlin Olson), the sister of one of the players.
Harrelson delivers a satisfying, if largely unremarkable performance as Marcus and carries the humour of the film largely quite well. Much the same can be said of the supporting, non-athlete cast. The true heroes of Champions are, however, the players in Marcus’ basketball team, called ‘The Friends’. The team consists of Johnny (Kevin Iannucci), Cody (Ashton Gunning), Craig (Matthew Von Der Ahe), Blair (Tom Sinclair), Benny (James Day Keith), Arthur (Alex Hintz), Marlon (Casey Metcalfe) and Showtime (Bradley Edens), later joined by Consentino (Madison Tevlin) and the highly talented Darius (Joshua Felder). Each of the actors bear in real life the disability they portray, and whilst Champions is far from the first movie to do this, it is still refreshing to see this community being able to tell their own stories – which perhaps says more about the film industry at large than piece itself. Each of the actors playing The Friends does a wonderful job, with Tevlin as the firebrand Consentino, Keith as the resolute Benny and Iannucci as the loveable Johnny being standouts.
The story itself is fairly low stakes, with conflicts falling away and resolving about as quickly as they arise and never dwelling on any issue for too long. Marcus’ arc, as well as most others, are straightforward and familiar, with the film overall being more or less predictable. The dialogue too can often be rather rote, with a comedic style that might feel like it was taken out of the 90s or 2000s and transplanted into 2023.
Despite all of that, Champions remains a charming watch that doesn’t overstay its welcome. The comedy is certainly well-intentioned. Whilst it does at times poke fun at the idiosyncrasies and habits of some of the Friends, such as Showtime’s insistence on only using backward shots and dancing after each attempt (which he has never hit) or Johnny’s aversion to showering, it generally seeks to show the greater roundedness of the characters as functioning people. Benny for example is shown to live independently and hold down a restaurant job, whilst a group of others live together and lead active lives, attending garden classes or manual arts workshops. Certain characters are also given even more attention, with their own personal struggles and experiences supporting some of the major story complications.
