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- 2012
- PG-13
- The Weinstein Company
- 1 h 53 m
- 2012
- PG-13
- The Weinstein Company
- 1 h 53 m
Summary A perennial whipping boy, in recent decades Manassas had gone so far as to sell their home games to the highest bidder, but that all changed in the spring of 2004 when Bill Courtney, a former high school football coach turned lumber salesman, volunteered to lend a hand. When he arrived, the team consisted of 17 players, some timeworn equ...
Directed By: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin
- 2012
- PG-13
- The Weinstein Company
- 1 h 53 m
- 2012
- PG-13
- The Weinstein Company
- 1 h 53 m
Undefeated
71
7.4
Where to Watch
Summary A perennial whipping boy, in recent decades Manassas had gone so far as to sell their home games to the highest bidder, but that all changed in the spring of 2004 when Bill Courtney, a former high school football coach turned lumber salesman, volunteered to lend a hand. When he arrived, the team consisted of 17 players, some timeworn equ...
Directed By: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 Critic Reviews
71
86% Positive
25 Reviews
25 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 29 Critic Reviews
71
86% Positive
25 Reviews
25 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Undefeated puts us inside his locker room, and you simply cannot fail to be moved by the human affection, commitment and passion you feel there.
I wish the directors had emphasized more of the players' personal lives apart from the football field. But, in the end, this is a documentary about Courtney and the transformative powers of caring. He works wonders on his players and they reciprocate.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 User Ratings
7.4
77% Positive
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
10% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
13% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 30 User Ratings
7.4
77% Positive
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
10% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
13% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
Wow! I wasn't expecting to blown away by this film, but that's exactly what happened. While I'm usually cynical at the Academy's choices, this is one film that richly deserved its Oscar. Coming from someone who has no interest in football (perhaps even a distaste for it), it's absolutely astonishing how engrossed I was by this story. Just one word of warning: Bring tissues. You're gonna need em.
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Don't mistake this for an "inspirational football movie." This Oscar winner for Best Documentary feature is not only best documentary of year, it may be the best film of the year. A true example of verite filmmaking -- inspiring, but not saccharine... emotional, but not manipulative... we see the film's characters with their warts and all. Also steers clear of advocacy of any kind (which the shortsighted have used as one of the very few critiques of the film) and allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions and start their own conversations.
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Like all memorable sports documentaries - Undefeated is really an examination not of how games are won and lost but how lives are lived, how young people faced with daunting challenges come to see, often in the most dramatic fashion, what is important going forward and what is not.
It's impossible not to root for these guys, or to leave Undefeated without feeling enormously moved by the experience of their joys and disappointments.
It's common for coaches to take roles as father figures on a high-school and college level, but Undefeated gets into how that dynamic works on both ends, as Courtney seeks to salve the pain of his family history.
Compared to many of last year's documentaries (Pina, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Cave of Forgotten Dreams or The Interrupters), this film is distinctly minor league. But it does provide the thumbs-up emotional lift of a bumper-sticker message on game day.
This indie documentary is egregiously Hollywood in spirit. That a take-charge white football coach can buck up a place like Manassas HS with some gridiron grit is a lie we want to believe.
Touching and inspirational, Undefeated manages to make you feel invested in the lives of these kids and coaches at Manassas High School within the first thirty minutes. On the surface, sure, it is a film about football, but the film manages to rise above its subject matter and give you an intimate look at the lives of these kids as they try to get out of the inner city and make something out of themselves. At the end of the day, rather than a run of the mill sports film, Undefeated is a unique look at people with their backs against the wall attempting to not be defined by where they came from.
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I found this a very inspirational film with insights into the lives of the players and the coaches alike. Admittedly, a lot of the focus is on Coach Courtney, but we do get glimpses of the lives of the players too. Not only star player O.C. Brown, but players like Montrail 'Money' Brown, who struggles with a bad injury part-way through the season. It was great to see how both the coach and his team-mates stood by him throughout. Also there was bad boy Chavis Daniels, who had problems with discipline but overcame them to become an iatrical part of the team. Even if, like me, you’re not particularly a fan of the game this inspirational film is well worth a look!
SteelMonster’s verdict: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
My score: 8.9/10
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Undefeated is a documentary that follows a single season of a high school team in Memphis Tennessee, the Manassas Tigers. The film follows the whole team but really focuses in on four people, the coach and three players. One of the first things the coach says to the camera is, "football doesn't build character, football reveals character". This line may seem corny, but as we go on the journey with this team, and specifically these three players, we get an understanding of how true this line is.
All three of these kids come from difficult situations with more than their share of obstacles to overcome. As we watch their stories unfold in this short period of their life we feel like we get to know these players. We grow to care for them, we rejoice with them when they succeed and our heart breaks with them when their situations get the better of them. Their stories are the emotional crux of the film. To read their stories in a review would not do them justice, their stories need to be experienced within the film. It is a journey worth taking.
No less emotional is the story of the coach of this team. On the surface he may seem like one of a thousand coaches in this country, I can only hope this is the case. As the film unfolds and he shares more of his journey our respect for him grows and grows. Football is important to him, but way more important is the way he connects with the young men he coaches. he understands how important it is for young men to have an adult male to care for them, to connect with them, and to kick them in the butt when they need it. This coach seems to be a truly humble man with a true heart for the young men he coaches.
Undefeated is a great, emotional watch. Not only one of the best documentaries I have seen in a long time but one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.
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And the Oscar goes **** best film of the year, Undefeated. Compared to Blind Side and Friday Night Lights. Better than both quite frankly. Extraordinary.
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"Undefeated" is a truly moving, remarkably compelling verite-style Academy Award nominated documentary focusing on three underprivileged student-athletes from inner-city Memphis and the volunteer coach trying to help them beat the odds on and off the field. When I saw this film at the 2011 DOC NYC film-festival (where it was awarded with a special Grand Jury Prize) I often had to remind myself that I was watching a documentary as the narrative unfolds with all the emotion and entertainment of a scripted feature -- and then some. I've seen the film described as a "real-life Friday Night Lights", which is a fair comparison... but Undefeated goes deeper. If you're not a football fan, fear not. Football is only the prism through which this film tells its story. Undefeated, at its core, is a character piece and the journey you take with volunteer coach Bill Courtney and three of his players (O.C. Brown, Chavis Daniels and Montrail "Money" Brown) is one you will not soon forget. Going in I expected the familiar cliches of an inspirational sports film, I experienced a something so surprising and moving that I honestly believe it will set the paradigm for how similar stories will be told going forward.
9 out 10
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Production Company
Zipper Bros Films,
Five Smooth Stones Productions,
Level 22 Productions,
Spitfire Pictures
Release Date Feb 10, 2012
Duration 1 h 53 m
Rating PG-13
Genres
Tagline The game is the easy part.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Midwest Independent Film Festival
• 2 Nominations
Philadelphia Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
