I saw Sweetwater before watching any reviews on the film. This was a film I had no real idea of what it was about when I decided to watch it, nor did I have any expectations whatsoever. In the world of sporting films, they are few and far between and often very weak, and I'm not really sure why given how massive the sports really are. Going in completely blind, I came out of Sweetwater feeling quite surprised and having enjoyed the two hour experience. My curiosity did get the best of me, and I was curious to see what critics had to say about the film only to be utterly shocked at how insanely low the review scores were. Funnily, the audience reviews were incredibly high. Why could this be, perhaps? Well, for a sports film, the story is actually really engaging! Secondly, the cinematography in the film is very visually pleasing. What could possibly have been wrong here? It was only after my viewing that I found myself coming to the realisation that this was slaughtered by critics because it is simply an original story.
Weirdly, whenever a soulless reboot is made, critics often flock to them and praise them for their supposedly progressive stances in casting, despite being utterly soulless and in actuality rather offensive to everyone, not just the fans. This crossed my mind at that moment. I wondered what the may have hated here about Sweetwater given it tells the story of one of the first African American basketball players to play in the NBA. An original story focusing on a real person! Of course with some elements of fictionalised drama as expected. I began thinking of great films I had enjoyed that did do something different and still have that progressive representation. Of course the first to come to mind were the films of Spike Lee.
I realised how well these films are received by audiences and how the thoughts of critics are never really cared for. As if cinema returns to its roots with characters that have depth and interesting stories to them, rather than the generic passing of the torch stories that Hollywood loves to disappoint with. I realised how much I miss seeing stories like these and how there's never any controversy surrounding them from audiences, but a lot of the time the critics. Well, Sweetwater ended up being one of those rare cases. A film that is pretty good, exploring an identity and series of events that hold some genuine interest to them, while still sticking to what it believes in over the themes it is tackling. Unfortunately, the film paid the price for being so grounded. But review scores hardly mean a thing these days anyway. I had to write this bit of context, because I do think Sweetwater is a touching film worthy of your time. Even if you're not a big fan of basketball or its history.
There may be a few spoilers here, but it's a film that I think you can enjoy easily while knowing the basics. After all, Sweetwater was a real basketball player in the NBA!
Sweetwater
The first thing I noticed with Sweetwater was a very interesting style of cinematography. For the most part I was under the impression that it was shot on some film stock, I couldn't quite figure out if it was or wasn't until I had to look it up. Well, I was wrong! It was digitally shot on Large Frame Arri cine cameras; I suspect the very filmic look either came from post production editing or rehoused vintage lenses made for the modern camera. Often enough, these vintage lenses rehoused gives a very grainy filmic look. And I love it! I think it worked very well for the film which takes place not too long after World War 2. I find the gritty filmic look also helps hide some of the lower budget or special effects that may be used in the film, removing their cheap look and coating them in grain that hides the detail we would often notice with highly detailed modern sensors and lenses. When it comes to stories from yesteryear, one of my main issues with them tends to be that they fail to capture the era by having everything still seem so clean and modern. So, from the start, Sweetwater gained some points from me for managing to gain my immersion, and at no point did I feel that my attention and immersion was lost. I think this faker sort of film stock look can be tricky to pull off, more so when it is done digitally rather than with vintage lenses, but it worked.
Sweetwater's narrative is quite a nice story as well, one that speaks of defying the norms and societal pressure to pursue something one believes in. Taking place as mentioned just after World War 2, the United States of America was still largely segregated by race; this is considered a lot in Sweetwater, but what makes it good is that none of it feels like it's trying to preach a modern agenda to you. Instead, it's telling the story of a highly talented basketball player that started off for the Harlem Globetrotters and climbed the ranks up to something higher. That is to say that this film does still consider the political climate and difficulties many faced, particularly in regards to how people thought in those times. People are generally dismissive of a black athlete, refusing to listen as to what he's capable of and even if there's money to be made by opening the doors up a bit more. It's a story told how a story should be told, and that's by not sugar-coating anything, regardless of political stances present in the film's characters; and especially if these characters are indeed based on historical events and existing individuals. I found myself really appreciating the way it handled these characters, not highlighting them in any particular way, even if it's clear that they're far from a progressive.
This allowed the film to isolate Sweetwater's character a bit more, to see a character that had such potential and frustration built up as a result of it. Everyone constantly toying with him for money and opportunity despite there being very little actual progress for him, it looked at his character with a more human side due to this, and it actually helped isolate him in a way. And the film's slow, two hours of build up really helps give perspective to these struggles faced, from smaller leagues all the way to that first game for the NBA as a true professional. Though the film doesn't rely on the basketball games all that much for the more faster-paced scenes, much of the film is dialogue and clashing between characters as the Harlem Globetrotters perform with excellency but show interest in going beyond the regular norms of the basketball sport; having more fluid control over the ball or coming to the discovery of the slam-dunk. It shows how this more innovative look at the sport which certainly had a big impact on how tickets got sold was still rejected in favour of the alledged white way of playing the sport. The dialogue roaming over the constant conflict between higher-ups as they attempt to convince each other on what is best for the future of basketball showed a challenge not just for the black athletes, too. But a struggle to convince a nation to accept change.
I think Sweetwater was a big surprise for me. Definitely not the sort of person to care for sports, but I am one that loves a very human story on defying the norms and pursuing ambitions. And with so few good sports films out there, I would definitely argue that Sweetwater is one of them. The review scores received are utterly disgusting, and seem to have very little connection to the quality of the film and story told. If you come across the film, I would say check it out. Ignore the scores, and get a little glimpse at the story of one of basketball's greatest innovators.
