Champions
Bobby Farrelly's return to feature filmmaking more than lives up to its title.
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Man, it’s good to have Bobby Farrelly back. As the younger member of gross-out comedy writing/directing duo the Farrelly brothers, he hasn’t had a hand in helming a flick since 2014’s ill-received – yet underrated to me – sequel “Dumb and Dumber To.” (Admittedly, Farrelly’s directed TV shows such as “Trailer Park Boys” and “Loudermilk” in the meantime.) Meanwhile Bobby’s big brother Peter took a successful shot at prestige with Best Picture Oscar-winner “Green Book” and to a much lesser extent with last year’s Zac Efron/Russell Crowe Apple TV+ vehicle “The Greatest Beer Run Ever.”
It’s especially nice to have Farrelly back and teamed up with Woody Harrelson. I’m generally a pretty big fan of the Farrelly brothers’ flicks. I dig the ones everyone likes (“Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary”). I dig a lot of ones where I feel like I’m an island unto myself (“Shallow Hal,” “Stuck on You,” “Fever Pitch,” “Hall Pass”). Of all of the Farrelly brothers’ films the 1996 Harrelson-starrer “Kingpin” stands head and shoulders above the rest. Hot Take Alert: It’s also the funniest either Bill Murray or Randy Quaid have ever been on screen.
Farrelly and Harrelson collaborate again for “Champions” (now in theaters), which is a remake of the 2018 Spanish dramedy “Campeones.” Harrelson plays Marcus Markovich, a minor league basketball assistant coach based out of Des Moines, Iowa. Marcus gets himself fired when he butts heads with and ultimately shoves head coach Phil Perretti (Ernie Hudson) over a play-calling dispute. Frustrated over his most recent failure, Marcus goes on a bender and drunkenly crashes into the back of a parked police car.
Marcus’ lawyer McGurk (“Trailer Park Boys” vet Mark Smith) is none too impressed with him and neither is Judge Mary Menendez (Alex Castillo). She gives Marcus two choices: he can either spend 18 months in prison or 90 days coaching a Special Olympics basketball squad called the Friends under the watchful eye of rec center manager Julio (Cheech Marin). Suffice it to say Marcus snags his whistle and is running drills in no time. During the process Marcus also makes a play for Alex (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star Kaitlyn Olson), a former one-night stand who just so happens to also be the older sister of player Johnny (Kevin Iannucci).
As the uncle of a nephew with Down syndrome, I had some concerns with how these special needs individuals would be portrayed on screen. I’m pleased to report “Champions” opts to uplift as opposed to punching down. The Friends aren’t the butt of jokes. They’re the ones making the jokes. These folks are living full lives – they have friends, jobs, sex lives, some of them are thriving independently on their own. Farrelly and screenwriter Mark Rizzo smartly choose to normalize these athletes as opposed to marginalizing them. The actors playing the Friends – Iannucci, Madison Tevlin (Consentino), Joshua Felder (Darius), Ashton Gunning (Cody), Matthew Von Der Ahe (Craig), Tom Sinclair (Blair), James Day Keith (Benny) Alex Hintz (Arthur), Casey Metcalfe (Marlon) and Bradley Edens (Showtime) – imbue the picture with much of its humor and heart … of which there’s absolutely no shortage.
“Champions” is one of the biggest-hearted movies I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s a return to form for Harrelson (who also served as an executive producer), a performer I greatly enjoy who feels as if he’s been phoning it in a lot of late … I’m looking at you “Kate,” “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “The Man from Toronto.” Harrelson has a fun, easy, charming chemistry with Olson, who oscillates between feeling like Sweet Dee and someone else altogether. Despite being a tad overlong and playing as a riff on “The Mighty Ducks,” this is also one helluva return for Farrelly. “Champions” is an audience picture not a critic’s one, but to this critic it more than lives up to its title.