NEW YORK (CNS) — Are student-athletes the exploited victims of a hugely profitable amateur sports system or its pampered beneficiaries?
Those are the parameters of the fact-based debate carried on in the high-quality but sometimes overly rhetorical drama “National Champions” (STX).
Although a recent rule change has made it less pressing, the question at issue is, of course, of potential interest to a broad spectrum of age groups. But Adam Mervis’ script, adapted from his eponymous play, is too heavily larded with vulgar dialogue to be suitable for young people.
In the days leading up to the year’s biggest college football game, star quarterback LeMarcus James (Stephan James) and his less-gifted best friend Emmett Sunday (Alexander Ludwig) launch a strike to force the NCAA to treat them and their peers as employees with a right to compensation. As the duo tries to rally both teammates and opponents to their cause, they run up against powerful resistance.
Those with a vested interest in short-circuiting the pair’s protest include their coach, James Lazor (J. K. Simmons), and tough corporate attorney Katherine Poe (Uzo Aduba). Amid the high-stakes maneuvering, James’ personal life begins to unravel as his neglected wife, Bailey (Kristin Chenoweth), considers leaving him for Elliott Schmidt (Timothy Olyphant), the professor with whom she’s been carrying on an affair.
Director Ric Roman Waugh evokes some intense performances. And, though overlong, his adaptation — a study of the dynamics of money and power that riffs on real-life conflicts rather than a traditional sports saga — has sufficient high-stakes twists and turns to sustain viewer involvement.
The picture comes adorned, moreover, with some scenes of heartfelt prayer as LeMarcus and Emmett seek divine guidance and strength from on high. Yet, along with a barrage of four-letter words, vain invocations of the deity also abound.
Such dialogue may be true to the macho context. But it makes “National Champions” a winning choice only for those grown movie fans who don’t mind being peppered with distasteful talk.
The film contains an adultery theme, drug use, references to homosexuality, frequent profanities, several milder oaths and pervasive rough and crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
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Mulderig is on the staff of Catholic News Service.
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CAPSULE REVIEW
“National Champions” (STX)
High-quality but sometimes overly rhetorical drama in which a star college football player (Stephan James) and his less-gifted best friend (Alexander Ludwig) launch a strike in the days leading up to the year’s biggest game to force the NCAA to treat student athletes as employees with a right to compensation. As the duo tries to rally both teammates and opponents to their cause, their coach (J. K. Simmons) and a tough corporate attorney (Uzo Aduba), among several others with vested interests, scramble to short-circuit their protest. Working from a script adapted by Adam Mervis from his eponymous play, director Ric Roman Waugh evokes some intense performances and, though overlong, his film has sufficient high-stakes twists and turns to sustain viewer involvement. A study of the dynamics of money and power that riffs on real-life conflicts rather than a traditional sports saga, the movie comes adorned with some scenes of heartfelt prayer. But it’s too heavily larded with vulgar dialogue to be suitable for young people. An adultery theme, drug use, references to homosexuality, frequent profanities, several milder oaths, pervasive rough and crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
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CLASSIFICATION
“National Champions” (STX) — Catholic News Service classification, A-III — adults. Motion Picture Association rating, R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
