A film with some high intensity scenes, some psychological tension, and flashbacks that suggest one story, and a psychiatrist played by Ben Kingsley who tells another story entirely. Mysteries abound and nothing is quite what it seems. An interesting film that plays over and over again with reality and personal identity, so that in the end, the viewer is left with ambiguity about what really is real.
I'll admit my bias right up front - I love basketball. So, to see a story loosely based on the 2011 NBA lockout was interesting. To see a story with a "behind the scenes" look, actual interview snippets with NBA players, a gym in south Bronx teaching youngsters the game, all of it was enjoyable. Do you have to be a basketball nut to enjoy this story? I don't think so, but it helps.
Beautifully told, it's not a new story, but one that hearkens back to that time between times, when the silent era of motion pictures was giving way to talkies. A silent star befriends a nobody who becomes a popular actress. The silent star can't accommodate himself to talkies, but when he hits rock bottom it's his old, but younger friend who bails him out. An enjoyable movie from beginning to end.
Not the same zip as the John Hughes movies that are referenced in this movie, but a good story about the brutality of the high school rumor mill and someone who stands up against it.
