Champions Review

In Bobby Farrelly’s Champions, we see glimpses of the gross-out humor that made the director and his brother Peter hugely successful filmmaker in the 90s. The co-maker of Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, and There’s Something About Mary throws up puke, flatulence, and sex jokes, but it takes up limited screen time. This high concept dramedy is more centered on the heart than a fart (forgive me) and some of it scores. This also occasionally feels so desperate for our affection that you feel obliged to pet it, rub its belly, and tell it what a good movie it is.

Marcus Marakovich (Woody Harrelson) is a basketball coach whose skills aren’t being put to their best use. He’s an Iowa based assistant in the minors after squandering larger opportunities due to his hair-trigger temper. When his big mouth gets him canned yet again, he drinks his sorrows away and ends up with a DUI offense. The judge, in lieu of a lengthy jail sentence, assigns him to instruct a team with intellectual disabilities for 90 days.

The sports cliches follow as the hard-hearted Marcus’s outlook on life eventually is softened by his players who call themselves The Friends. One of the players is Johnny (Kevin Iannucci), the brother of his coach’s one-night stand turned potential love interest Alex (Kaitlin Olson). His primary character trait in the beginning is that he refuses to shower. The screenplay (co-scribed by Farrelly) doesn’t spend much time exploring the lives of these teammates. That might have been a worthwhile approach. For example, more airtime for Madison Tevlin’s forthright and self-confident Cosentino might have benefitted the picture. Same goes for Joshua Felder’s Darius, who’s the strongest player yet refuses to suit up for his legally bound coach (his reasons make good sense once revealed). Their performances make the absolute most of what they’re given. Unfortunately that’s limited.

Those character’s subplots could have turned into rewarding larger ones. We’ll never know. Champions is more focused on Marcus. He pines for NBA exposure instead of riding the pine in menial tutorial positions. Ironically the feel-good story of the Friends gets him closer to his goal as ESPN takes notice of his legally decreed assignment. Harrelson is no JV performer and he brings his A game to a script that never fully coalesces. He has a winning chemistry with Olson and their romantic interplay is a frequent plus.

A remake of a 2018 Spanish title, Champions isn’t offensive unless you count a short shot of projectile vomiting (there’s nothing approaching what we saw in the aforementioned Farrelly tales). I didn’t really find its treatment of the Friends objectionable either and that’s refreshing considering the filmmakers have a fine line to walk. On the other hand, there’s a fair share of mediocrity to deal with. For all the moments where the formula works, there’s a nagging feeling that this could end in the cast doing a dance routine to something like “Tubthumping” by Chumbawumba. Ahem, spoiler alert…

**1/2 (out of four)