Shadows on the Wall | Unstoppable

Unstoppable

dir William Goldenberg
scr Eric Champnella, Alex Harris, John Hindman
prd Ben Affleck, David Crockett, Andy Fraser, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Gary Lewis, Anthony Robles
with Jharrel Jerome, Jennifer Lopez, Anthony Robles, Michael Pena, Don Cheadle, Bobby Cannavale, Mykelti Williamson, Shawn Hatosy, Noen Perez, Carlos Solorzano, Julianna Gamiz, Elijah James
release US/UK 6.Dec.24
24/US MGM 1h56

TORONTO FILM FEST

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Hugely inspiring, this complex true story is beautifully adapted to the big screen as a mother and son team up to take on challenges on several fronts. It's strikingly shot and edited to pull us right into each moment, and both Judy and Anthony Robles worked with the production to keep everything grounded in raw, earthy honesty. As a result, it earns the audience's cheers without sentimentalising anything.

Born with one leg, teen wrestler Anthony (Jerome) has trained with high school coach Bobby (Pena) to win the national title. Even so, the big universities won't draft him. So he attends local Arizona State and has to earn his spot on a competitive team coached by Shawn (Cheadle), who can't help but notice Anthony's relentless determination. Through all of this, his mother Judy (Lopez) is on his side, as are his four half-siblings, even if stepdad Rick (Cannavale) isn't. And various troubles at home become yet more obstacles for Judy and Anthony to surmount.

We have seen many real-life triumph-over-adversity movies before, but this one feels unusually well-rounded, balancing story elements regarding sports, family, marriage and finances, while gently but knowingly touching on issues of race, economics and disability. So what emerges is a solidly involving biopic that continually surprises us with its depth of feeling and meaning. And because Anthony himself appears as Jerome's stunt double, the film carries an unusually true-to-life kick.

This doesn't take away from Jerome's performance at all. Not only did he work with Anthony for months to learn his distinctive wrestling style, but Jerome has enormous physical and emotional on-screen presence, creating a vivid character whose tenacity and emotional openness resonate beautifully. This helps to create some astonishing moments opposite Lopez, who invests Judy with the same underlying resilience, even if she sometimes forgets herself. The terrific Pena, Cheadle and Cannavale skilfully add textures to their scenes.

While Anthony's narrative has been sculpted into the usual sports drama, the most intriguing aspect of the film is that, in the end, Anthony's disability becomes almost a side-issue, and it also doesn't really matter if he wins the climactic championship match. Indeed, this story encompasses a lot more than the usual plot beats that make up this genre. And the cast and crew clearly understand this, because even though we know how it will end (the poster artwork gives that away), we're still fully invested.

themes, language, violence 15.Nov.24

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