It seems like people either really like Ben Affleck or just despise him. Me, I actually enjoy his movies if they are in his wheelhouse. I don’t see him doing comedy or some other genres but playing an alcoholic former basketball star is a role that he nails. I’m fortunate not to have a great deal of experience with how alcoholism can affect not only the person but everyone around him. As much as this is a movie about basketball, it certainly doesn’t glorify drinking and its dangers. It has all the potential to be the cliché that every sports movie can be but the end goes in a little bit different direction than expected. It avoids the Hollywood expectation and yet gives a hopeful and satisfying ending.
Much like a good retail shop needs location, location, location, a good movie requires character development, character development and then some more character development. This movie has almost none. This movie comes off as blah because you don’t care about any of the characters nor understand why they do what they do. Multiple times in the movie there are hints of a major turning point in the plot that holds your attention for short periods of time. But, no, it just plots along telling the very average story of a sports team with a predictable ending. We wanted to cheer for the basketball team in Hoosiers, but at the end of this movie you are left saying, ho-hum, who cares. (4/10)
It seems like people either really like Ben Affleck or just despise him. Me, I actually enjoy his movies if they are in his wheelhouse. I don’t see him doing comedy or some other genres but playing an alcoholic former basketball star is a role that he nails. I’m fortunate not to have a great deal of experience with how alcoholism can affect not only the person but everyone around him. As much as this is a movie about basketball, it certainly doesn’t glorify drinking and its dangers. It has all the potential to be the cliché that every sports movie can be but the end goes in a little bit different direction than expected. It avoids the Hollywood expectation and yet gives a hopeful and satisfying ending.
Much like a good retail shop needs location, location, location, a good movie requires character development, character development and then some more character development. This movie has almost none. This movie comes off as blah because you don’t care about any of the characters nor understand why they do what they do. Multiple times in the movie there are hints of a major turning point in the plot that holds your attention for short periods of time. But, no, it just plots along telling the very average story of a sports team with a predictable ending. We wanted to cheer for the basketball team in Hoosiers, but at the end of this movie you are left saying, ho-hum, who cares. (4/10)