136. Champions; movie review

 

CHAMPIONS

Cert 12A

124 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate sex references, discrimination, infrequent strong language

Woody Harrelson may be my favourite current movie star.

Since being the gormless barman in Cheers, his breadth of work is staggering.

So, it was rather splendid to see him being transformed from a commitment-phobe, drunk, know-it-all-basketball coach in Bobby Farrelly's Champions.

A court order for community service puts him in the reluctant charge of a team with special educational needs.

Harrelson's character, Marcus, is a basketball nerd with an encyclopaedic mind for the best moves - however, he has no insight into what makes his players tick.

Consequently, he has fallen short of his ambition to work in the NBA.

However, he is forced to think outside of his comfort zone when faced with his new squad - a team known as The Friends.

Each of the players has different complex needs and, therefore, it soon becomes clear that he will have to understand them as people as well as help them gel as a team.

Meanwhile, there is a slice of on-off romance with the sister (Kaitlin Olson) of one of the Friends.

It is impossible not to fall for this team - especially Johnny ( Kevin Iannucci) who has Down's Syndrome and has an impish sense of humour as well as fierce loyalty.

Mrs W helps at a club whose members have similar needs and she commented on how realistic their actions in the movie are - especially the Friends' very blunt response if they believe the coach has let them down.

Anyway, this is a charming, feel-good if occasionally predictable movie with a cracking soundtrack and Harrelson holding it all together.

It gave us a warm glow.

Reasons to watch: Charming, feelgood film

Reasons to avoid: A little bit twee

Laughs: Four

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organisation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities for five million participants and unified sports partners in 172 countries.

The final word. Bobby Farrelly: "My brother Peter and I have been making movies for a long time and we always wanted to include people with disabilities. That community is underrepresented in film, so we didn’t want to be guilty of that too. We’re drawn to stories about people with disabilities." Coming Soon

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