Murderball | Review

Entertaining doc puts the spotlight on people who are bigger than life.

The decade’s most refreshing sports drama comes not from producers affiliated with Disney but from a small indie unit who pick out stimulating films with a cerebral pulse. After the likes of Born into Brothels and Spellbound , THINKFilm’s Murderball will feature plenty of hard hitting but will also be a hit with audiences looking for a different kind of aseassonment from the tradition documentary. Co-directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro profile a handful of personalities from the bone-snapping, body crushing sport that is not featured in sports bars around the country on Monday evenings.

Mark Zupan, the film’s most colorful figure is the definition of a true warrior, sports his tattoos and has the attitude to go with it making him the more popular figure from the U.S team. Thanks to some creative storytelling, he is singled out and pitted against the very outspoken and hyper-stressed out Joe Soares who defects from the red, white and blue for the red and white neighbors to the north. With plenty of attitude, the doc follows an enjoyable story arch which takes a couple of pauses to put the spotlight on lesser known facts.

The road to glory in the Olympic sport of wheelchair rugby only serves as a pretext – instead the doc is about a father and son story, a friendship that finds forgiveness and human drama of overcoming obstacles. What is refreshing about the doc is that it knows no bounds – it asks questions that could leave some people flustered, but the discussion about the functionality of a man’s manhood demonstrates the candidness and the film’s good natured tone.

While I’d refrain from calling this paraplegic athletes as Special Olympians (you’d likely get tire marks on your face)– they certainly come across as special individuals. Murberball isn’t about the message, is not about generating sympathy and is not about the sport – it’s not only about people rebuilding a life but living it. Unfortunately, as long as the American government meddles in our nation’s affairs they’ll always have a fresh supply of talent – this final footnote while depressing to think about could very well be an interesting subject matter to follow up on – (hint hint).

Rating 3.5 stars