Champions - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Champions



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Underdog sports movies are probably one of the most common takes on the genre. Everyone loves to root from the underdog, especially when it comes from a point of view where the audience can relate with said underdog. However, the market is sort of saturated. We’ve seen the same ideas played out for decades, with 1 of 2 options usually playing out. The 1st is that the underdog trains their hardest, against ALLLLLL odds, and manages to make that winning shot that shoots his team to victory. The 2nd is that the underdog trains their hardest, against ALLLLLL odds, and doesn’t manage to win the game. The caveat being that they learn that it’s more important to try your best than actually win. Really, they’re the same movie with a slight twist. Unfortunately that means that there is not a whole lot of wiggle room to create something new in the genre, which is why many of the most successful sports movies focus on what happens outside of the game to forward character development.

Directed by ½ of the infamous Farrelly Brothers (Bobby), Champions is a paint by the numbers feel good sports story that doesn’t stray very far from the beaten path (in fact, you can almost say that there are guard rails around the script, not allowing any deviation at all). It revolves around down and out basketball coach Marcus Marakovich (Woody Harrelson) who is recently fired from his assistant coaching gig, and subsequently gets arrested for drunk driving, putting him in the proverbial hot seat. The judge takes leniency on Marcus, and instead of sentencing him to 18 months of jail time, gives him 90 days community service coaching a team of intellectually disabled kids.

Naturally Marcus is not exactly THRILLED by the proposition of being stuck for 90 days teaching intellectually disabled kids, when he is hoping his best to get a job working as an NBA assistant. However, as is the case with these underdog stories, Marcus and his kids form a bond that transcends some of the greed and selfishness of humanity. Like all of these stories, there’s a dalliance romance with the beautiful Alex (Kaitlin Olson) who happens to be the sister of one of his kids, the well meaning director for the team (Cheech Marin) and the ultimate confrontation of having to make it to the championships.

Champions is one of the most well meaning and sweet movies of the last several sports movies I’ve watched. It’s very kind and non biased towards the participants and Bobby Farrelly actually made sure that all of the actors portraying the intellectually disabled came FROM that community. It adds and authenticity and sweetness that is hard to replicate otherwise. Woody Harrelson is playing himself, but that’s a good thing as the affable actor with the quirky laugh and crooked smile is perfect for the character he’s playing. Olson is decent enough as Alex (although I can’t get the image of Dee out of my head when I see her), but the script is so rote and well worn that it’s hard to truly ENJOY the film fully. Well intentioned as the film might be, the paint by the numbers script leaves almost nothing to imagination, telegraphing every plot twist as they come. Simply put, it’s held back by being plain and blending in with the myriad of other underdog teen sports movies out there.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for strong language and crude/sexual reference




Video:

While Universal refused to give us a 4K UHD release, the digitally shot 2.39:1 framed Blu-ray is quite the looker. It has a very neutral look most of the time, with a slight parchment color grading to dull the color saturation most of the time. However, there are plenty of strong reds, blues and yellows throughout the film, and I found very little instances of banding. Combine good skin tones and facial details and the only thing I could really hold against the image is the washed out black levels due to the parchment color grading. Especially the scene where Alex and Marcus have their “breakup” on the front porch of her mom’s house. All in all, very good looking transfer.









Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is a bit more subdued, with a more traditional dialog heavy mix that favors the front of the room. Vocals are crisp and clean, locked up front where it belongs, but the surrounds do get some use from the basketball games and the score (the score actually being the biggest contributor to surround usage). Bass is punchy and powerful during said score, and we get a “bang” when Marcus crashes his car, but most of the time the LFE channel is sort of subdued and restrained. Simple drama mix, but effective.












Extras:

• Feature Commentary with Director Bobby Farrelly
• 12 Deleted Scenes
• Keeping it Friendly – Director Bobby Farrelly, Woody Harrelson, and the rest of the cast share how they became involved in CHAMPIONS, as well as the importance of representation in the film.
• Woody and the Team – Every team needs a good leader – here we explore how Woody Harrelson filled that role on and off screen.
• Casting the Friends

Final Score: ​

As I said above, Champions is not a great movie, but it isn’t bad either. The story is sweet, and everyone involved is giving it their obvious all. About all you can really blame the film for is being too plain and not being able to stand out from the rest of the copious other underdog sports films out there today. That being said, I enjoyed my time watching it and would still recommend it as a rental if you’re looking for a fun enough rental (though be warned, this may be family friendly 99% of the time, but they do make good use of the PG-13 rating with some crude jokes and intimations of sexual encounters if you’re wanting a TRUE all ages family friendly watch). Rental.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Matt Cook, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci
Directed by: Bobby Farrelly
Written by: Mark Rizzo, Javier Fesser, David Marques
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Spanish DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal Studios
Rated: PG=13
Runtime: 124 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: May 2nd, 2023

Recommendation: Rental

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I am interested in this one so will check it out.