Having been found guilty of mistreating his players, disgraced minor league basketball coach Marcus (Woody Harrelson) is sentenced to 90 days of community service coaching the Friends, a team comprised of players with intellectual issues. What else can I call them if I avoid the R-word?” A puzzled Marcus. Judge: “Their names,” in response. The story of “Champions,” adapted by Bobby Farrelly from the 2018 Spanish film “Campeones,” is the same as that of every other feel-good sports film: a disgraced coach tries to win back the respect of his players and the respect of the fans. The fact that they employ a squad of crippled basketball players as the means to an end without even recognising the players’ humanity is cringeworthy. Harrelson’s character, Marcus, is initially portrayed as a stereotypically cocky and aggressive jerk. Not even Harrelson’s signature charisma could make us want to invest two hours of our lives in 2023 in watching this person. His one-night-stand turned girlfriend Alex (Kaitlin Olson) isn’t much better at character development. She makes statements like “I’m a lady over 40” and “I have standards,” but Olson gives the part some nuance that isn’t present in the script.
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As Alex inquires as to the root of Johnny’s (Kevin Iannucci) intellectual disability, Marcus profusely apologises for his gaffe. She feels obligated to tell you that he has Down syndrome due to a genetic defect and that it is not contagious. The movie acts as though its viewers have no prior knowledge of intellectually disabled persons and spend a lot of time explaining the subject rather than demonstrating it.
In a previous episode, Julio, the rec centre manager (Cheech Marin), fills Marcus in on the team’s personal lives. As he continues to narrate his thoughts, we see snippets of their life at work and at home. Despite this, the camera never sticks close to the subjects as they go about their regular lives. Instead, they show the viewer their everyday lives from what is essentially an anthropological distance. The producers don’t regard them as multifaceted people who are interesting enough to spend time with; they’re just instruments for educating Marcus and the audience. Despite this, the screenplay provides plenty of time for the budding romance between Marcus and Alex.
We see it develop from an initial sexual encounter to dinners out, then to Marcus to Alex’s workplace to hear her recite Shakespeare, and finally to Marcus joining Alex and Johnny for their mother’s cheesy meatloaf on a Monday night at their house. The talented ensemble of actors portraying the Friends—including Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Casey Metcalfe, and Bradley Edens—is underutilised in favour of cheesy one-liners and tired gags because of this disrespect for the characters’ humanity. While there are individual storylines for each character, they all revolve around the protagonists’ quest to compete in the Special Olympics North American Regional Championship. It’s hardly shocking that, by the time the credits roll, none of the Friends actors had been credited among the film’s non-disabled stars before the title treatment, considering the film’s general disregard for them.
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If they make it to the final game in Winnipeg, they’ll be down at halftime, prompting Marcus to give his standard pep talk to the players. The film’s good intentions are undermined when Marcus tells them they’re already champions because of all the “things they put up with from dumb people every day,” turning them into tokens. At the outset of “Champions,” after Marcus loses his job as an assistant coach, head coach Phil (Ernie Hudson) advises him he must get to know the players as people before he can teach them effectively. And filmmakers, who need to extend the same kindness to their Friends and appreciate them as entire human beings, would do well to do the same.
The March 10 release of “Champions” is a one-day-only event at participating cinemas.