Review of Murderball (2005) by Janice Y — 13 Oct 2006

This was mostly an outstanding documentary and I'll probably watch it several more times. It presents an uplifting, but [i]never[/i] unrealistic, portrayal of a wide range of functional quadraplegia and can be fascinating from both intellectual and emotioal standpoints.

There were only a couple of small problems that, for me, kept this from being a perfect movie. The first is it seemed rather disjointed; it wasn't about the sport so much as about the people, which [i]would[/i] be fine as well, except in the next scene it didn't want to be about the people either, but about their condiditon.

The result was it wasn't [u]deeply[/u] informative in any of the three subjects. It did have nice synopses for most of the athletes shown and that wrapped it together rather nicely, but the explorations still fell a little short.

Second, while learning about the quad's sexual function might have been enlightening, I really didn't need to hear (or especially [i]see) [/i]graphic details about positions and masturbation, etc.

It almost bordered on soft porn and, really, cheapened the film. But that was a very short portion and the good far outweighed the bits of bad. I absolutely [i][u]loved[/u][/i] most of the people in the film; I found myself holding my breath during the gameplay segments and wish there would have been a lot more of them--they were very well, and tightly, filmed.

I also cried a couple of times AND enjoyed several genuine "lol" moments. I especially loved finding out that Joe was now negotiating to coach the US team (Jingoism forces me here to point out the Canadians STILL would have never beat the US if they hadn't employed an American coach!!).

How great was THAT whole story? Lol!! Any way, having been in a devastating accident when I was a teeanger and spending over a year in the hospital and rehab centers, I have always been convinced I could have never hung in there and "made it" back to my life if I had sustained para- or quadraplegic injuries.

I have an extraordinary respect for anyone that lives with that condition and to see all these people that have found a purpose in their lives, as well as something that is a healthy physical and emotional outlet, was very heartwarming.

Overall, a really great film!