SXSW Film
Daily reviews and interviews
By Joe O'Connell, Fri., March 18, 2011
Undefeated
Spotlight PremieresD: Dan Lindsay, T.J. Martin
Undefeated follows the sport doc blueprint perfectly: Focus on the people behind the sport, follow the heartbreak and love, make us root for the team. Here, that team is led by volunteer football coach Bill Courtney, a chubby, charismatic redhead who serves as fill-in dad for a group of African-American players. We have the smart guy with heart, the big natural athlete who struggles to make good grades, and the troubled boy with anger issues. Courtney's surface goal is to win the district title and then the first playoff game ever in the school's 110-year history. But he'll settle for changing lives. The filmmakers spent eight months immersed with the team, and it shows. We agonize for these young men as we stare deeply into the eyes of the American Dream in all its soiled glory. Purchased after its first SXSW showing by the Weinstein Co., Undefeated isn't just a great sports doc, it's a great documentary. Period.
Thursday, March 17, noon, Alamo Lamar B
