Doomtomylo
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
lindseyreagan
Undefeated is a film that documents the Manassas football team's journey to success. With underlying themes and raw emotion, this film is a strong ten. The opening to this film is the coach giving an encouraging pep-talk to his team. The director made this so that the audience can understand the true passion and determination the coach has. The biggest underlying theme is hard work. The coach is always pushing and encouraging his players. The director is also sure to pan images of the homes in North Memphis so that the audience can see what these boys come from. The camera angles used make the film seem more life-like and make the audience feels as if they are actually face to face with the coach and players. There is also another theme of pride. The coach always talks about how proud of the team he is, no matter the outcome of a game. The raw emotion of the coach and the players is seen when they lose the championship. The mood changes from hopeful and anxious to let down and disappointed. However, the coach gives another uplifting speech and says he wouldn't trade his team for the world because he is still proud of their effort and how they handle the loss. This scene is one of the most important in my opinion because it's a take-away scene. The players learn that even with continuous hard work, there are times where you will also fail. This film could be aimed at another audience of inner city school kids searching for a little inspiration. I think students attending other inner-city schools are the only ones that can truly understand that struggle. So this film would be wildly popular if shown to another inner city football team because they get it. However, inner-city school students are not the only people who would enjoy and take away from this film. Another potential audience could be any sports team coach. The coaching style of Bill Courtney is a unique style. Courtney acts almost as a father to his boys. In a scene with one of his players, "Money", he shows how much he cares about his players. The team has gathered to watch the film of their last game, Money and another boy get into a small fight and Money storms out. Well, Coach Courtney is not having that. Courtney goes to Money's house and explains to him how he must behave and how he must be a man about conflict. I think that Coach Courtney could have very well left Money to pout but Courtney decided to go that extra mile to reassure Money he is still a part of the team and he is still important despite what happened. In my opinion, this film was well put together. Undefeated is a classic feel-good movie but has the realistic element of defeat. The underlying themes of hard work and pride truly make the film all the better. Any audience would enjoy watching this movie more than once.
jrdariancunningham
I am not going to lie to you, most of the time when I hear the word 'documentary' associated with a movie, I lose quite a bit of interest. From what I have heard that is not an unpopular opinion about documentaries. The knock on these type of films is usually that they are too boring, too education based, and most of all they lack the Hollywood acting, suspense, and plot line of your typical interesting movie. Does that sound about like your thoughts when thinking about the word 'documentary'? Well let me tell you that this movie, Undefeated, will blow you away if you are expecting a prototypical documentary film that lacks all of the aforementioned qualities. The filmmakers of this documentary absolutely hit it out of the park with this one! Undefeated is a triumphant tale about a mediocre (at best) high school football team that is simply unbelievable that it was all caught on camera to say the least. This high school football team, the Manassas Tigers out of Memphis Tennessee, is an inner city school in which the funding, especially for the football team, is very poor. The conditions in which these kids were going to school and playing football in were so poor, it was difficult to get good football players to come there for years, hence making the Manassas Tigers the butt of all football jokes in not only Memphis, but all of West Tennessee and the surrounding areas. In all honesty, it is pretty easy to make jokes about a football team that hadn't won a football game in 10+ years before the arrival of volunteer coach and star of the film, Bill Courtney. In coach Courtney's first season at Manassas he recorded four victories and began to turn some heads. A good thing for Coach Courtney about that minimal success in his first season, was some of those heads that were turning were some very talented eighth graders that took notice of the programs progress and were lured by Coach Courtney to come to Manassas to build a winning team there. One of those eighth graders was an eventual All American offensive lineman by the name of O.C. Brown. This film takes place during Brown's senior year at Manassas, and Bill Courtney's sixth season leading the Tigers as a volunteer head football coach. The filmmakers do a terrific job of capturing as much of this highly anticipated season as possible, and take you on a roller coaster ride of different emotions, from extreme disappointment to moments of great triumph. The best part of a documentary doing this, is the fact that you are able to not only experience this watching it, but your emotions live vicariously through the different football players and other people featured in the film. This is a key aspect that absolutely blew me away, and after you watch this movie you will understand more of what I am talking about when I tell you that the filmmakers hit absolute gold in luckily capturing a magical season for the Tigers. You will notice as you watch the film that you will hear from many people and accounts throughout the movie, but the film captures this season focusing on four main people. Two of the people it follows have already been mentioned, head coach Bill Courtney, and All American lineman O.C. Brown. Brown is a very talented football player that over the course of the season will struggle with the balance between football, and being able to keep his grades up in the classroom to possibly be able to go to college and further his football career. The third person featured in this film is Montrail Brown, or better known as "Money". (No relation to O.C.) Money is an extremely smart kid and although he may be undersized, works harder than anyone on the football field to be good. Money will not only be physically challenged, but also goes through a tough spiritual and mental challenge during this film. The fourth and final person with a key role in the film is a junior standout linebacker, Chavis Daniels. Chavis has storied and well documented anger issues, headlined in the beginning of the film in telling the viewers that he just got finished serving fifteen months in a youth penitentiary. The film will highlight and follow his anger issues throughout. Overall, this film teaches some of the same lessons and values that Coach Courtney instills in the young men on his team. I pulled two quotes from Coach Courtney in the film that I think portray his mission very well. At the beginning of the film he lays it all out there saying "The foundation has got to be a solid platform that you can stand on and speak to these kids and say, this is the way you build yourself, if you build yourself this way and handle yourself this way and have character, you get to play football. And winning will take care of itself because, young men of character and discipline and commitment end up winning in life and they end up winning in football. Well when you flip it, and the foundation of what you're doing is football, and then you hope all that other stuff follows. Well then you think football builds character. Which it does not. Football reveals character". The second quote is one he gives early on to his players, and is repeated in the film. "The character of a man is not measured in how he handles his wins, but what he does with his failures". This is the best documentary I have ever watched, I recommend you do yourself a favor and give it a try. You'll love every second of it!
kosmasp
Sometimes you start a project with a different goal than it eventually ends up to. The filmmakers hit the Jackpot in more than one sense here. On the other hand winning the Oscar might have raised the bar/expectations from people who might have watched this as a normal documentary and therefor might have liked it more.This documentary sometimes might feel like it lacks the drive Hollywood movies have. But that is because it is real and because everything you see in here is what happened. It still is dramatized, but not to the extent you see in the movies. You also shouldn't forget, that those are not actors, but real people (and please don't confuse real people with "reality TV") doing their thing. The camera is not distracting and the tension is felt throughout.One really good sport documentary
keith petersen
Great movie worth seeing. The overall rating is far too low for this movie- don't be discouraged from seeing it.Life isn't easy and some kids learn this from their earliest days. 'Undefeated' gives us heart that some will escape the hard life of poverty they have been dealt. One coach steps in to try his best to do his part to help but the job is tough and full of harsh realities... not everything has a storybook ending in this movie or in real life. Still the movie has plenty of feel good moments, moments when you hope the kids are starting to see the light of their own potential both on and off the field. Have your teenagers and college kids see this movie. They'll appreciate you and what they have been blessed with a little more because of what they see others go through in this documentary.
