This sports documentary is like watching the commentary track on a DVD, but for an NBA game. Director Spike Lee, a bona fide basketball nut, put 30 cameras on star Kobe Bryant for a key game against Lakers' rivals the San Antonio, Spurs at the end of the 2008 season. The player was miked and then comments in voice over to get a unique look into the game from his point of view.
Lee follows the league MVP from when he arrives at the Staple Center until he leaves after the game. The film is really geared toward basketball fans. Kobe talks strategy and players like the audience is already in the know. For fans, the film shows how much preparation goes into winning basketball games. Kobe is a scholar of the game and constantly talks to his teammates about how to run plays and defend against the Spurs' offense. In watching him throughout the course of the game, you get a strong sense of how mental skills are just as important, maybe even more so, than physical ability.
Kobe comes off as man who loves his job. He legitimately has respect for the players he plays against and understands that you can't be afraid that someone is going to make you look stupid, because it's inevitable to happen. Keeping this in mind, Kobe frees himself to have fun. It's also interesting to watch how Kobe's attitude changes over the course of the game. He comes off as a wise calm leader and then as the game progresses and he gets more involved, there is more bite to his comments to players and the way he talks about his opponents. Some might read it as cockiness. Other might read it as a competitor.
As for the presentation, Lee simply keeps the camera on Kobe and watches. Once in a while he'll throw in some stylistic flares by flipping to black & white stills of Kobe making signature moves, but otherwise he just lets Kobe tell the story on the court and in the voice over. I particularly felt the work of editor Barry Alexander Brown attributed to the film's success. I know that they must have cut stuff out because the film is only 84 minutes long, but it really feels like we're watching the whole game with Kobe. Lee and Brown keep the pacing moving and Kobe has enough different interesting things to say that the film never drags. But then I'm a basketball fan.
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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
