This is a documentary film about a historically unsuccessful high school football team and the rebuilding of the program by a volunteer coach in North Memphis, Tennessee. There is some adult language used that may be reserved for early teens and up. Also the movie is a little long but short enough to give a full story of the team. The movie targets two areas that Americans love dearly; their football and their youth. Americans are very involved, concerned, and infatuated with things we would have done different and being an athlete or reliving High school are two of the topics at the top of the list. The film starts with a very grabbing summary of recent events by the head coach, Bill Courtney, that grabs any viewers' curiosity for the entire film. Like most sports movies, as you probably expect, this is another underdog story. It is a "rags to riches" feel of a high school football team's season and it's rise to a become winning program with it's inner city talent. The school goes from a "pay to play" school where larger football programs pay the school to come and play them for a guaranteed win so that bad team can pay for their athletic programs to a more competitive school. The main characters and the chronology of the events through out the film tie into the ending very well. The three main characters, within the team, that are followed throughout were a good selection. There is the star player, O.C, the team captain and academic, Money, and the trouble causing player, Chavis. The turn of events from the beginning to end between Money and Chavis are worth keeping an eye on. This film really speaks to former athletes that have been removed from the camaraderie of school sports for a few years at the least. The shots captured of the home, student, and athlete life style causes me recall my own memories that are very much the same as in the film. The coach and player interactions during practice, in the school hallways, and the extra effort to make home visit for the athletes remind me of the same experiences I also had as a player. Although I don't mind, some may, when Coach Courtney makes a playful racist remark when trying to resolve another of Chavis's anger outrages. One of the coaches also touches on the local criticisms of the help the star player is getting similar to the movie The Blind Side with Michael Oher. I see this documentary as spotlighting the sport of football and belonging to a sports team as an alternative to other activities outside of school, like gang activity. Some may see this film as focusing attention the bad conditions of inner city schools and youth. The coach teaches positive lessons to the players as an alternative to what they were dealing with at home. Chavis gives us a good example of why the environment and team is more important than himself and his actions. This film does a great job telling the story of the football teams and a few key characters. It has a story line that plays out so well as if it were scripted but is so authentic that there is no way it could be made up. There are a lot of heartfelt and genuine lessons throughout this documentary and I hope you enjoy.
Review of Undefeated
