MURDERBALL

Director: Henry Rubin & Dana Shapiro (no major film work)
Starring: Documentary

This surprising little documentary about quadriplegics was a very good movie. Nominally, the film is about Murderball, or wheelchair rugby, but as with any good movie it goes well beyond the central premise. When I say that the film is surprising, I mean it’s surprising in a number of different ways, not just that I was surprised by how good it was. I was surprised that the film showed quadriplegics not as targets of sympathy, but as full-blown assholes. I was surprised that the film devoted time to showing a father becoming a better father and that he just happened to be paralyzed. I was surprised that it showed (fairly graphically) the sex activities of the paralyzed. At times this movie wanted me to laugh at the paralyzed. At times this movie wanted me to dislike the paralyzed. And in the end this movie wanted me to understand the paralyzed. This was a very good film.

Standouts: The directors. They put together a very good film.
Blowouts: A scene where Para-Olympians make fun of the Special Olympics. Just sad.

Grade: A-

8/18/2005