Popular approach wins Oscar for 'Undefeated'
<b>Reel Life review: 'Undefeated'</b>
Had Chicago's crack team of documentary makers of "Hoop Dreams" produced the Oscar-winning sports doc "Undefeated," it would have followed the bumpy, conflicted roads traveled by the black teens playing football for the Manassas High School in North Memphis.
Instead, directors Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin opt for an obvious and market-friendly approach: They follow the super-noble white coach who sacrifices his business, his home life and his patience to help the woeful Manassas football players better their game and attain personal self-actualization.
In other words, volunteer coach Bill Courtney saves them and the Manassas football team.
"Undefeated" follows the Manassas Tigers' 2009 season with Courtney inspiring his team to break the school's 110-year streak of never winning a state football playoff game.
As we get to know Courtney as a genuinely caring, forceful man (imagine a stereotypical Southern sheriff mixed with equal parts Dr. Phil and Super Nanny), the personalities and stories of key teammates come into focus:
O.C., a super left tackle who needs to bump up his test scores if he wants to take advantage of college scholarships.
Montrail, aka "Money," an offensive tackle who's on the honor roll, but still struggling to nail down scholarships.
Chavis, a linebacker with an explosive temper that he will not or cannot control, and that makes him a fascinating wild card in the mix of team personalities.
"Undefeated" works as an incredibly moving chronicle of how a single, selfless person can make an improvement in the lives of others, and be a role model for ethical treatment and the Golden Rule.
Lindsay and Martin capture some unbelievably personal and telling moments in their movie, which almost rivals Steve James' great "Hoop Dreams" as a feel-good sports doc with plenty of heart.
It probably won't come as a surprise that producer Rich Middlemas was inspired to make "Undefeated" in part by reading Michael Lewis' best-seller "The Blind Side," the true story of a white family who takes in pre-pro football player Michael Oher. (The movie version won Sandra Bullock a best actress Oscar.)
Academy voters love to lavish Oscar wins and nominations on white savior movies: "Blind Side," "Avatar," "Glory," "Dances With Wolves," "Ghosts of Mississippi," "Mississippi Burning," "Cry Freedom," "Geronimo: An American Legend," "The Hurricane" and others, most based on true stories.
Consider that "Undefeated," which concentrates on the white coach, won the Oscar for best documentary Sunday. Meanwhile, 1994's "Hoop Dreams," which concentrated on black players, never even earned an Oscar nomination.
Also consider that the L.A. Times reported that about 94 percent of the Academy voters are white.
Could the movie's unabashedly saintly treatment of Coach Courtney have been a major influence in giving "Undefeated" its Oscar?
"Undefeated" opens at the Century Centre in Chicago and the Evanston Century 12. Rated PG-13 for language. 113 minutes. ★ ★ ★
<b>Remakes R Us</b>
Join me and James Bond novelist/film historian Raymond Benson as Dann & Raymond's Movie Club presents "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Remakes!" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 8, at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, 500 N. Dunton Ave., Arlington Heights. We'll examine 12 remakes of major movies, including "True Grit," "King Kong," "Casino Royale," "The Thing" and "The Man Who Knew Too Much." Call (847) 392-0100 or go to ahml.info. Free admission! Popcorn? Maybe if the machine is working.
<b>'Artist' needs 4 stars</b>
Mike, a longtime Daily Herald reader who says he agrees with my reviews "99.9 percent of the time," left a message on my voice mail last week, castigating me for a giving "The Artist" a mere . ★ ★ ★ ½
"What gives?" he almost shouted. "Why not four stars? Three and a half stars for 'The Artist'? No way! Four stars all the way!"
Mike, who didn't leave his last name, urged me to reconsider my rating. So two nights before the Oscars, I sat down with my wife Peggy and we watched "The Artist" again.
Nope. "The Artist" was a wonderful feel-good, gimmick movie, but lacked the complexity and depth of a film like "The Descendants." Then Peggy pointed out something I had missed in my original review.
Despite being a silent, black-and-white film, "The Artist" is a perfect movie for our time, for it's about how we must all adapt to change. Jean Dujardin's silent star pays a hefty price for failing to adapt to two things: new technology and economic collapse.
Who can't relate to those changes in 2012?
So, Mike, I'm bumping up "The Artist" to ★ ★ ★ ★ on your appeal. It just goes to prove that when Daily Herald readers talk - even on voice mail - we listen.
<b>Congrats, Kathy!</b>
My congratulations to Kathy Oberfranc of Palatine for beating me at predicting the Academy Awards last weekend. As a valued Subscriber Total Access member, she receives four passes to the fabulous iPic Theaters in South Barrington plus a $100 gift card to John Barleycorn's in Schaumburg.
See? Sometimes it pays not to listen to film critics.
<b>Local world premiere!</b>
The all-Illinois-made drama "Lac Du Flambeau" will have its world premiere at the Midwest Independent Film Festival at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, at the Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark St., Chicago. A producers' panel will be held at 6:30 p.m. Written and directed by Columbia College grad Mark McNess Rosengren, the drama concerns a man whose role in a fatal accident pushes him to the edge of suicide. Go to midwestfilm.com.
<i>Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire's column runs Fridays in Time out!</i>