Olympic Dreams-Win Win

Quite a few films about teen sports often focus on the man behind the team--the coach.  In Win Win, we see that coach struggle with his own faults that he first sees as a moral good, but then digs himself into a deep hole that he almost cannot get out of.

Paul Giamatti plays Mike Flaherty, whose dayjob is as a lawyer.  During his off hours he coaches the local high school's boys wrestling team, and unfortunately the team is not very good.  One of Mike's cases involves the estate of an elderly man Leo (Burt Poplar) who needs increased medical care so cannot live alone at home anymore.  When told that Leo's estate can pay someone for his care, Mike takes on this additional job as he needs the money for repairs to his office and basic needs.

At first Mike sees it as a win-win for both Leo and himself, both getting something they need.  Then Leo's estranged grandson comes to visit, but really to escape the inattention and strained relationship with his mother (Melanie Lynskey).  Teen Kyle (Alex Shaffer) begins to live with Mike's family when Mike sees that he is a pretty talented wrestler.  Naturally Mike recruits him for his team, which begins winning, and he becomes lax in his attention to Leo and mistakes are made.  This slippery slope gets more slippery when Kyle's mother comes to claim him.

Olympic Dreams: The Do-Deca-Pentathlon

Continuing with my sports-themed lineup of films in celebration of the upcoming Olympics competition in London, here is another selection (although for the most part this is a family drama about sibling rivalry).

This is an earlier (2008) Duplass brothers movie that was not released until now. (Jay Duplass explained that as they were finishing this film, they got the go ahead to make their other films Cyrus and Jeff Who Lives at Home; since this one was one they were doing themselves, and the other two were studio films, they put this one aside and only recently finished it.)

This story is about two brothers, Mark and Jeremy. Mark (Steve Zissis), the seemingly more put-together brother, is married with a preteen son. He and his family are returning home to his mother's where Mark's wife has planned a birthday party for him. Jeremy (Mark Kelly), the supposedly irresponsible brother, has not been invited to the party due to his immature personality, but invites himself anyway.

When the brothers reach their childhood home, Jeremy re-instigates the Do-Deca-Pentathlon, a 25-event Olympic competition between him and his brother. This childhood contest between them was truncated when their father stopped the contest during the last event, leaving them at a tie. Mark, being responsible and also suffering from stress, tries to avoid any competition with his brother.  But Jeremy appears to have returned home solely to finish this contest, and pushes Mark's buttons in the ways he knows how; the both of them start up the competition again, but in secret unbeknownst to Mark's wife Stephanie (Jennifer Lafleur) and their mother. They pretend to go jogging or to the grocery store but compete in stuff like laser tag and push-ups, roping in Mark's son on the secret too. Surprisingly it is Mark who becomes much too gung ho on winning and Jeremy begins to see this and wants to end the competition. Stephanie finds out and this divides her and Mark for a time.

Olympic Dreams: The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones

A historical biopic about Japanese surveyors trying to map Mt. Tsurugi-dake (Sword Mountain) in 1907.

The army uses triangulation of stone markers placed previously on other points to continue with their work.  When news that an amateur mountain climbing club is planning to get to the top first, the army wants badly to map the area and claim the mountain first.  They bully and coerce their chosen man, Shibasaki (Tadanobu Asano), pretty much giving him no chance to refuse this job, calling him a coward if he won't attempt this and succeed to boot (and in Japanese culture to lose face is a big thing).  In 1906, he consults a retired surveyor Furuta (Kôji Yakusho) who had previously tried climbing the mountain but was unsuccessful.

Shibasaki hires Chojiro (Teruyuki Kagawa) as his guide.  Chojiro used to work with Furuta.  (There is some unwritten political rule that implies Chojiro shouldn't be doing this, and he gets some heat for it, I couldn't tell what that was all about.  Perhaps Furata has more seniority so it was considered disrespectufl for Chojiro to be consulted like this.)

Shibasaki and Chojiro don't make it successfully in 1906, turned back eventually by bad weather and impassability.  They try again in 1907 with more men, and more pressure, as the army heads and the climbing club are both breathing down their backs.

Olympic Dreams--Shodo Girls

I don't think "shodo" is going to be an Olympic sport anytime soon, but it was interesting to see a local cultural art framed as a competitive sport, while also showing how these old manual arts are disappearing from the youth culture of many countries.  Perhaps Olympics host countries can showcase a lost art like this one instead of always looking into what is up and coming.

Based on real events, shodo is a Japanese calligraphic art, where calligraphers write mottoes or poetry in beautiful brush script. This craft is on the decline. A high school girl, Satoko, who belongs to the school's calligraphy club, tries to generate interest in this ancient art as she can see for herself that the town needs a boost due to the poor economy. They are assigned a new school advisor, but he is flashy, which doesn't equate with her sense of what the classical art should be.

Other club members and their families are shown. This is a paper mill town, and many families' livelihoods are dependent upon the trade. One boy's grandfather is despondent that his handcrafted high-quality paper is passed over for the mass produced products one can find in an office supply store. Another girl's father owns an arts supplies store that no one shops in anymore. Many other shops are closed due to the economy and the results of global trade. Another girl, a former friend of Satoko whose single mother is ill, hides that fact and tries not to let on that she can't attend college and must find work instead.

Satoko, desperate, forms a contest where school calligraphy clubs can compete in a flashy competition involving dancing and splashy motifs. (Similar to those big cheerleading competitions we have here in America.)

Olympic Dreams--The Winning Season

This is a typical underdog sports story starring Sam Rockwell in a type of role he is good at, the loveable loser. It's a sort of a comedy version of Hoosiers (that movie is referenced in The Winning Season, which also takes place in Indiana). The writer of this movie (also from Indiana) wrote Lonesome Jim and Grace is Gone and so you can see the "sad loser" feeling seems to be a theme.

Rockwell is Bill, a divorced, alcoholic, middle-aged dad working as a busboy. He seems to have had some promise as a high school basketball player, but that dream didn't evolve. The principal of a local school who was a friend of Bill's asks Bill to coach the team. Bill is excited--until he finds out it is the girl's team. While Bill and the girls learn about each other, both don't think the other can do the job.

Bill seems too laid back but his training is smart, although it depends on the girls working hard, which is something he has trouble motivating them to do. Like his own first reaction, many think the girls are not worth very much.  Most of the players (one is Rooney Mara, the new Lisbeth Salander) have some kind of trait or storyline so you can tell them apart. Bill also has trouble relating to girl problems, so hires the female schoolbus driver (Margo Martindale) as assistant coach to help him in this aspect. She becomes both a mother hen as well as a pretty good legitmate assistant coach.

Olympic Dreams--Victory

It's a VICTORY! For Sylvester Stallone that is. He gets top billing and glamour shots throughout this WW2 plot of Allied POWs and German soldiers in a soccer match, meant to show Germany's physical superiority. Despite not knowing soccer (the actor or his character), he manages to finagle his way into this film and on the team, despite better actors such as Michael Caine and Max von Sydow, and better players such as Pele and other well known soccer players, and for crying out loud, this was directed by John Huston. Obviously Stallone had parlayed his Rocky success into this payout. Also, Bill Conti did the score (hmm, wonder how HE got this job!) Let's hope the potential remake I've heard about will cast athletes who can act as well.

From what I can see, life in this POW camp is pretty glamourized. Throughout the film I don't recall any atrocities like in other more realistic films. The premise is that Max von Sydow, playing German major Steiner, sees some Allied POWs playing soccer and recognizes one of them, Colby (Michael Caine), as a well-known British player. Steiner decides, for propaganda, to plan a match between the two sides. Meanwhile, some Brit commanders in the camp in charge of escapes learns that Hatch (Stallone) has planned an escape via the prisoners' showers. When the team gets extra benefits, it screws up Hatch's shower plans, so the Brits help him out so that he can escape and contact French resistance, not exactly something Hatch wants as he just wants to escape. When the French send him back for some reason or another, he has to rejoin the team.

Of course there is the rousing game where Steiner is disappointed to learn is somewhat fixed for the German side; he wants Germany to win legitimately. The Allied players are more intent on winning the game than carrying out the escape plan, which puts everything in jeopardy.

Olympic Dreams--Whip It!

A Texas teen (Ellen Page) discovers roller derby, but her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) would prefer her to be a beauty queen. Bliss sneaks out of the house to attend a match, meeting a cute musician (Landon Pigg). She has found her true calling and is encouraged by one of the pros (Kristen Wiig) to get a spot on the team. Bliss becomes "Babe Ruthless," and soon becomes very good despite her amateur status. This helps the team because they've never won a championship.

Bliss continues to sneak out, juggling her waitress job, pageant duties, lying to her family, as well her budding romance. Rival skater "Iron Maven" (Juliette Lewis) later finds out a fact about Bliss that jeopardizes her place on the team as well as the success of the team.  Also, her family finds out about her extracurricular activity, which also forces Bliss to choose between the loves of her life--her family or her sport.

Daniel Stern is Bliss' dad; Drew Barrymore plays another teammate (she also directed and co-produced); Jimmy Fallon gives additional humor as the play-by-play announcer; Andrew Wilson is Bliss' team coach; Alia Shawkat plays Bliss' loyal friend.

Olympic Dreams--Invictus

Okay, this movie isn't about a team going to the Olympics, but I thought I'd check out some sports related films in the lead-up to the London Olympics Summer Games this year.

Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring a couple of big hitter stars in the lead roles, this story tells about a South African rugby team that was used as a public relations tool to help unite the country after the divisive violence of apartheid.

Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela, struggling to bring his citizens together, who still insist on personally dividing themselves.  Old staff who worked for de Klerk depart en masse when Mandela enters into office.  Members of his black security team grudgingly make room for white security men.  Now at his wit's end on what to do, he decides to take a back door approach.

The underdog rugby team, the Springboks led by Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), have little chance of going to the 1995 World Cup, until Mandela one day invites Francois to tea. They actually don't discuss much rugby, but Francois comes away with a feeling that Mandela thinks they can bring the nation together through its support of the team.  The Springboks do some unorthodox things like going to black ghettos to teach kids the sport (the team is all white except for the lone black who gets much love from the kids).

Meanwhile, Mandela's closest staff think he is spending too much time on rugby and not enough on his "real" job, thus not understanding his strategy. They warn him he will be accused of going solo when he should rely on his cabinet.

Watch it, bro!--Hermano

Last night I was able to attend a preview screening for a really great family drama. It is about two Venezuelan brothers with dreams of playing soccer.