An up-and-coming quarterback is invited to train with a legend, only to discover the dark secrets behind his fame.
The constant need for heroes. What we want vs. what they need. The sacrifices they make vs. the hot dogs we overconsume while judging them… Co-writer/director Justin Tipping and the producers behind it – yes, Jordan Peele amongst them – created an artistic portrayal of what is and isn’t inside someone’s head whose ambition is such that they are willing to sacrifice everything… until they realise their ambition was probably not even theirs… and there is nothing left to sacrifice. And somewhere there, scattered in all three acts, social commentary about race, society, people, individuals, peer pressure, press pressure, steroids and illegal drugs, idolatry, fake role models, the occult, distorted biblical references, identity loss, and the pursue of a success that is nothing like it looks permeate reality and its incalculable perceptions, disillusioning its existence.
Think of Whiplash (2014), but mostly Black Swan (2010) in a mixture of stylised music video with colourful symmetrical and asymmetrical shots, edited like a music video with experimental touches that aim to express the paranoia behind fame, using American football and all the darkness behind the scenes through apocryphal depictions. And if you find that last sentence confusing, wait until you watch the film. What is for sure is that Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers and Julia Fox do a fantastic job in front of the camera.
There have been numerous negative reviews about it, as well as some somewhat positive ones. Don’t take anyone’s word for it – not even mine. Watch it and be the judge. Is it an audiovisual experimental metaphor that will one day be praised or a narratological mess?
P.S. Regardless of whether you praise the film or not, Kira Kelly’s stylised cinematography and Taylor Joy Mason’s meticulous editing need to be acknowledged.
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