Directed by Bobby Farrell, Champions, based on a true story is a heart-warming tale about Marcus a minor-league basketball coach, played by Woody Harrelson, who is fired from his job after an altercation with the head coach. This leads on to an arrest for drunk driving, luckily for him he’s able to avoid jail and is issued with 90 days of community service coaching a team of players called ‘the Friends’ who have intellectual disabilities.
Despite his initial misgivings, he soon comes to appreciate the task and guides the team to success, this is aided by his blossoming relationship with Alex (Kaitlin Olson) who plays the sister of Friends player Johnny (Kevin Iannucci). The cast of actors playing the team are superb: Joshua Felder, Madison Tevlin, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe and Bradley Edens.
The film does touch on sensitive topics, captured by the boss of Benny who seems disinterested in supporting his basketball ambitions. After a few hiccoughs along the way, Marcus, ‘the Friends’ and Alex all bond and Marcus makes a big decision regarding his future.
After careful consideration, the four of us reporters all agreed that Champions was an uplifting, energetic rather sweet film with a lively ‘Tubthumping’ soundtrack to the team’s success!
However, we thought that at times it was a bit clunky, including a few overused gags and a rather predictable plot.
London Mums’ rating:
London Mums reporters gave Champions a collective 7/10.
The trailer
