TIFF08 - Day 3
Well who knew you could make a smashing documentary about a buncha guys from the wrong side of the tracks in a rust belt Ohio town who coalesce into possibly the best high school basketball team ever? Well, first time filmmaker Kristopher Belman did. The result of countless hours of footage from basketball games, practices, and interviews, MORE THAN A GAME tells the story of LeBron James and his teammates and coaches from the St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish of Akron, Ohio in the late 90s and early 2000s. James is now an NBA star, whom Kris had the foresight to get out and videotape long before the rags to riches story was a fait accompli, and got the footage he needed to make a fully fleshed out, visually exciting film that shows the kind of sacrifice and discipline it takes to turn ragtag players into a nationally ranked team - and boys into men. That may sound a little hyperbolic, but it’s not far off, and this story warrants all the attention it is destined for. Simply because it’s about basketball GAME will be big in the States anyway, (and might even do well here), but it is exceptionally well put together, better than it needs to be to do well, well enough that I think it is a Best Documentary candidate come Oscar time. These guys have heart, their coaches have the right stuff, and stumbles in their trajectory allow us to really connect with them and root for them.
Introducing the screening, TIFF programer Thom Powers asked how many people were at their first film festival film, to which a lot of hands were raised. MORE THAN A GAME drew a pile of people up from Ohio, plus locals that until now hadn’t connected with a festival film. The screening subsequently drew an atypical level of response from the audience - there were multiple outbursts of applause and cheering throughout the film, and once it was all over and the players were brought up on stage for the Q&A, many in the balcony moved forward to crowd the mezzanine aisle for a better view, bringing a real concert-standing room only feel to it all. It’s worth noting that a couple of the players totally choked up during the Q&A, as they discussed watching their high school years unspool before their eyes again.
The Q&A was followed, by anyone who wanted to attend it, with Lebron James leading a hoops shooting contest at Yonge-Dundas Square, which of course, was thronged. All of this was very populist on a day when the Toronto Sun’s headlines screamed FILM FEST ‘ELITIST’. It does have that corporate side, but it’s not the singular beast some would have you believe. (Just stay away from the Galas.)
During the introduction for GOODBYE SOLO, an independent American film (it could not be farther from Hollywood), programmer Jane Schoettle announced that SOLO had just won the FIPRESCI prize at the Venice Film Festival, heightening our expectations for this already buzzed-about film. (FIPRESCI prizes are handed out by a panel of film critics to promote film art and encourage new and young cinema).
The film concerns a man who has moved from Africa to the US to make his way in the world, and to provide for his family back home. Solo is driving a cab at the moment, but seeking employment as a flight attendant. One evening a fare he has picked up gives him a deposit to book him for a drive into the mountains in ten days. The destination is a national park known for its cliffs, and the fare won’t ask Solo’s innocent question about why he wants to go there - setting the wheels of the story in motion.
Côte d’Ivoirian newcomer Souléymane Sy Savané is riveting as Solo, while veteran character actor Red West brings a gruff realism to William, a man worn down by a past he keeps hidden. Director-writer Ramin Bahrani brings their story to the screen with such unsentimentalized honesty that the film has more of a documentary feel to it. I don’t think there’s a wrong move in the whole film. This will be a hard one to forget. If this doesn’t play the Carlton/Cumberland/Canada Square art house circuit, something is wrong.
NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST was my last film of the day, and a complete departure from SOLO: it was Hollywood calling tonight, but I didn’t initially realize it would be. Directed by Peter Sollett, who was responsible for the excellent RAISING VICTOR VARGAS 5 years ago, I expected another New York based low budget indy pic, and because it stars hometown nerdthrob Michael Cera, I thought maybe we had another JUNO here. Well, it’s not a total Hollywood sellout…
NICK AND NORAH is the story of a couple of Bridge and Tunnel New Jersey kids in New York for the evening. The two are both in the middle of relationship meltdowns with their Exes when they meet and eventually find love through their shared musical interests. (None of that is really a spoiler given the name of the film of course.) It turns out that it’s far more smartly written than the average teen comedy, but while it doesn’t exactly reach those JUNOian heights, NICK AND NORAH will play very well. Michael Cera’s impeccably understated comic delivery is complimented by winning performances including Kat Dennings playing Norah and the hilarious Ari Graynor as her too-often-drunk friend Caroline, along with a whole ensemble’s worth of photogenic friends with whom to trip the light fantastic. No surprise, New York at night also looks fantastic in this pic, (I think I want a crazy late night next time I’m there), and the soundtrack is consistently fun (and should sell like crazy). If you’re gonna sell out and go Hollywood, might as well do it as well as Peter Sollett has with NICK AND NORAH. This one’s out in October.