Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Go have a ball, a Murderball...


I caught "Murderball" last week and was humbled by the humility and inspired by the spirit of those rolling rugby players. From the opening scene of Mark Zupan dressing himself for the day, to the wild melee of the game, this film showed me a world that, frankly I'd never thought about before. Directors, Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro do a good job of balancing the individual stories with the main drama of the USA Wheelchair Rugby Team's effort to reclaim the title of World's Best from their arch rival Canada. This film has everything; conflict, humor, suspense, great dialogue and characters; so imagine my dismay when I read this CNN article called, "Why is nobody going to 'Murderball'?"

Ticket sales have been slow in comparison to the movie's buzz, and the distributor worries that America just isn't ready for a frank documentary -- even a really good one -- about guys in wheelchairs.

Read rest of the story

Indeed. Cynically enough I am not surprised that the masses are flocking to "The Dukes of Hazards" instead of "M-Ball" after all reality is pretty heavy right about now and the urge to escape is strong. Even though, ultimately what I took away from "Murderball" was something better than two hours of mind-wash. What I got was a glimpse of the nobler side of any of us, all of us and how some face hard realities with grace, strength and style. Do yourself a favor, catch "Murderball" not out of pity or duty or whatever, but because it's just a damn good film. Zahdah.

OK HW