Murderball
by Dana Adam Shapiro, Henry Alex Rubin
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dave Willsie, Joe Soares, Kevin Orr (II), Mark Zupan, Scott HogsettDirector: Dana Adam Shapiro, Henry Alex Rubin
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-11-29
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Velocity / Thinkfilm
Movie Reviews of Murderball
Movie Review: A FIlm Not Good At Apologizing!
Summary: 5 Stars
When you think of quad rugby (rugby played by quadrapolegics) what do you think of? What I thought of was a bunch of disabled guys getting together to throw the ball around for no other reason but that they wouldn't feel sorry for themselves. (It is hard to admit, but that is the vision I had.)
This film - Murderball, which is the original name of "quad rugby" - is a mind-changer. And unlike other films portraying people with disabilities, this film does an excellent job in not apologizing for its subject. What do I mean? With many films and shows about people with disabilities, we are supposed to either feel sorry for their subjects, feel sorry that we are feeling sorry for our subjects, or watch a film that "politely" deals with the subjects' disabilities.
This film is no good at apologizing and certainly is not polite. It centers around the American and Canadian quad rugby teams as they prepare for the 2004 Athens olympics, and we meet a bunch of guys who, quite frankly, would kick your a** were you to pat them on the head (as we often subconsciously do to wheelchair inhabitants). (One character says, at the beginning, "What, you won't hit a guy in a chair? Hit me. I'll hit you back.")
We watch the teams - particularly the American team - train for the Olympics. In so doing, we get to peer into their personal lives: they talk about how they became quadrapolegics, how they got turned on to rugby, and even - cough - frank discussion about how they have sex (I told you this was not a typical polite "disability" film). We see perfections, imperfections, and real, real life.
The film is quite captivating in that we are (a) learning about a sport most of us have never watched or thought we'd watch; (b) learning about people who we've always been interested in but never asked about; and (c) are following an adventure story to see if the always-dominant American team can retain their dominance against a very-hungry Candadian team. All three of these factors are equally integrated into the film and one never feels like the film is subsumed by any one of them. Guys. Sports. Paralysis. An interesting triangle, but one which works here.
See the film. I guarantee that you will think of see quad rugby - I'm sorry, murderball - in the same way again.
Summary of Murderball
More than merely a sports documentary or an inspirational profile of triumph over adversity, Murderball offers a refreshing and progressive attitude toward disability while telling unforgettable stories about uniquely admirable people. It's ostensibly a film about quadriplegic rugby (or "Murderball," as it was formerly known), in which players with at least some loss of physical function in all four limbs navigate modified wheelchairs in a hardcore, full-contact sport that takes them all the way to the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, in 2004. But as we get to know paralyzed or amputee players on Team USA like Andy Cohn, Scott Hogsett, Bob Lujano and charismatic team spokesman Mark Zupan, we come to understand that quad rugby is a saving grace for these determined competitors, who battle Team Canada coach (and former Team USA superstar) Joe Soares en route to the climactic contest in Athens. Simply put, Murderball is the best film to date about living with a severe disability, but codirectors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro avoid the sappy, inspirational sentiment that hampers nearly all mainstream films involving disability. By the time this blazing 85-minute film reaches its emotional conclusion, the issue of disability is almost irrelevant; these guys are as normal as anyone, and their life stories led to Murderball becoming the most critically acclaimed documentary of 2005. --Jeff ShannonDocumentary DVD Video
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