Wednesday, October 14, 2009
SPORTMANSHIT
Today's Richard Linklater film was the final remake (there were three) of
In this one, Billy Bob Thornton rechannels Walter Matthau's original misanthropy into a neater package.
This is the anti-Disney film. A kids film which is rated PG-13. The word "fuck" is not used but everything else is.
Linklater turns the genré of the kid sports films on its head. This is his metier. Gentle subversion.
He seems to make one film for himself and one movie for them but the ones for "them" are really for himself as well.
In this one, Greg Kennear is the clean jockish coach of the opposing ball team. His cracks gradually grow so that we see underneath all the good sportsmanship bullshit.
Thornton, on the other hand, is a bad boy and so are the kids on the team. If not bad, they are defective in some way. Outcasts.
The process of reclamation is fun to watch.
Also, Linklater was a baseball player and the last twenty minutes show the excitement of the game when it is played to the hilt. Really.
I liked it. I am glad that I saw it.
I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5*.
*Let's review the rating system. If I hated it and skipped through the film it is a 1. If I didn't like it but watched it through anyway, it is a 2. If it is good and one time is enough, it gets a 3. A 4 says that I wouldn't mind at all seeing it again. A 5 is a commitment to see it again and perhaps again and again.
