Another great story of achievement, directed by filmmaker Gavin O'Connor and starring the phenomenal Ben Affleck.
What is the plot of the film?
Jack is a construction worker, his life takes place between work and the bar he goes to every day to get drunk. Jack is an alcoholic, he drinks all the time. He is in a phase of self-destruction. One day he receives a call from a priest who runs the high school where he studied, to be the coach of the basketball team. Jack hesitates to accept, the glory days are behind him, when he was the best player in the school, he had a bright future as a basketball player, but he left all that behind. Now he will have the opportunity to lead the team to success and save himself.
Gavin O'Connor is a principal who, slowly but surely, has offered intense dramas, whether in the world of crime or in the world of sports. In this category, the director has a solid background. In 2004, he released Miracle, a film based on real events, about the ice hockey coach who made the American team beat the Soviet Union in the Olympics. In 2011 he would release Warrior, an excellent film that takes place in the world of mixed martial arts, where the theme of family and alcoholism has an important weight in the story.
The main theme of the film is the self-destructive process of Jack, who is immersed in alcoholism, is a sad man, who seems to have no hope. He has a family that loves him, his mother is alive, he has a sister, who is married and has two small children, the nephews that Jack adores.
Jack's alcoholism caused his marriage to end, his ex-wife left him when he was already lost in alcohol. What was the reason for this end? Everything has a reason, we will discover it later in the film. Jack is like that, because he has to bear the weight of a very sad event.
Everything related to Jack's life is the most interesting part of the film. That sadness that overwhelms the protagonist, we see it reflected in the atmosphere. The use of a very realistic tone, gives more strength to the story. The most sensitive scenes are made without melodrama and do not seek the easy tears of the viewer. We will feel Jack's tragedy close to us and share his pain.
The sports plot is made in a more conventional way, the school basketball team is made up of boys with very defined personalities, but they all have in common that they love that sport. They are the worst team of all and have not made the playoffs since Jack was a student in the 1990s.
The transformation of a bad team into a winning team is the driving force behind any sports story that is shown in a movie, these success stories are very popular. In addition, the director has experience with these types of stories. The scenes of the games and how they win are very exciting.
Ben Affleck plays Jack, the man who will bring the basketball team back to life and at the same time make it possible for that team to be saved. I've said it before, Ben Affleck when he's well directed, can put on a great performance. Although I consider him an unexpressive actor, in this film his character is credible and has very moving scenes.
There is an important detail with the fact that Affleck brings this character to life. The actor has been struggling with his alcohol problems for several years. Ben Affleck is an alcoholic, and he made it public himself. On several occasions he has been admitted to expensive rehabilitation clinics. Perhaps for that reason he has managed to give a fairly credible performance.
Sometimes we wonder how it is possible that people like Affleck, who seem to have everything, who haven't experienced a tragedy like the one in the film, can end up being addicted. We seem to idealize them because they are famous, and forget that they are human beings like us, with the only difference that they have a lot of money and fame. But they suffer and have defects like everyone else.
A solid and sad drama, with a great performance by Affleck, with student basketball as a background. A story of individual achievement, which I recommend seeing this weekend.
My Ranking: 3.5/5
Trailer
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