You will never look at a person in a wheelchair the same after seeing this documentary. It’s fun, exciting, humorous, moving and badass.
The central story of the film deals with quadriplegics who play full-contact wheelchair rugby, leading up to the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. The central characters are Mark Zupan, the grumpy goatee sporting tough guy from Team USA, and Joe Soares, the bitter, arrogant coach of Team Canada, who use to play for Team USA before he got too old and was cut. Both of these men have dynamic testosterone-fueled personalities and can be total jerks. This is the most joyous thing about the film, which shows quadriplegics as human beings that have varying emotions and personalities.
The film quickly dispels the notion that quadriplegics are all like Christopher Reeve. All quadriplegic means is that the person has some impairment in all four limbs. The rules of quadriplegic rugby rate players on their level of impairment and each team can only have a total of eight points on the court at any given time. The wheelchairs the players use are like chariots that would be in MAD MAX. The players ram into each other at full speed and come crashing to the hardwood floor of the basketball court. They may be impaired, but they are still amazing athletes.
The film is a triumph at not making us feel sorry or pity for people in wheelchairs. We often forget that there is really anything different with them and get wrapped up in the personalities like any other sports film. Through the course of the film, we enter the lives of the players and see how driven they are to live a normal productive life. Zupan often says he has accomplished more in the chair then he ever did out and wouldn’t change a thing.
There are no taboo topics here. The questions about sex, how they got injured and the like are all addressed frankly. This is the most inspirational film I’ve seen all year. When a documentary is really great, it’s always because the characters and story are profoundly compelling. When docs are as good as this one, they bring forth more truth and a truer slice of the human experience than any fictional film could ever reach. This is one of the best films of the year. A must see!
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
