Champions is yet another ‘inspirational’ film where a washed up, onerous, able bodied white man (played by Woody Harrelson) is taught to to appreciate his lot in life because he is forced by circumstance (and in this case a judge) to tutor/coach/motivate a group of people with disabilities to success in their relative arena, and thus win the girl/dream job. Heard it before? Well we all have. The one hope I had going into Bobby Farrelly’s remake of the Spanish box office hit Campeones, was that it took this pre-existing crowd pleasing formula and brought it up to scratch for 2023 audiences. Chiefly, that it gave the characters with disabilities realistic storylines, agency and fleshed them out to be more than just pivot points for the protagonists own self realisation. Champions kind of gets there?
Harrelson plays Marcus, a washed up back seat basketball coach whose violent outbursts and bloody minded focus on play not players causes him to be fired. Later that night as he’s wallowing in self pity he drives home drunk and re-ends a police car, landing him with 90 days of community service – to be served coaching a community basketball team of people with disabilities known as “The Friends”.
Some members of the team take a while to warm up to Marcus and here is where Farrelly does break the mould of your average underdog sports film. First Farrelly casts actors with actual intellectual disabilities, which should not be groundbreaking in this century, but still is. Second, he gives him all unique storylines, rather than portraying them as a homogenous group and never, ever as a joke. The characters with disabilities have differing levels of independence and autonomy, their own goals and needs, and most importantly no one person in the team is singled out as living in a way that is more ‘correct’ or ‘able’ than another. Oh, and they’re treated like adults – not children. The ‘Friends’ team is composed of the actors: Kevin Iannucci, Joshua Felder, Madison Tevlin, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe and Bradley Edens.
However, there is more to this movie than just representation. It’s a story that we all could use – how to keep living and enjoying life when your dreams don’t turn out the way you hope. Whether that’s Marcus’ dreams of coaching in the NBA, his love interest Alex’s (Kaitlin Olson) dreams of becoming an actress or others that are seeded throughout the film.
There are still elements of this film that are clunky and awkward, but for now it is a step in the right direction. Harrelson’s performance is relatable, but it’s the supporting characters who truly make this film. From the stoic Darius (Joshua Felder) tethering us to the more sobering moments to the charismatic Constantino (Madison Tevlin) keeping us laughing at Harrelson in every scene she’s in, and even to Olson’s ferocious overprotective big sister – they give the film it’s heart and soul. Farrelly has created another heartwarming comedy success. Maybe sometimes you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, you just need to make it run a little smoother. (5/10)
