Murderball opens in theaters July '05. Visit Murderball movie website
<http://www.murderballmovie.com/>
Game on!
A review by Ed Hooper
<http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/reviews/hoopermurderball.html#bio>
NOTE: YOU ARE ON THE RAGGED EDGE <http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/> WEBSITE.
Murderball is getting rave reviews from film critics like Roger Ebert of the
Chicago Sun-Times, who predicts an Oscar for it for best documentary. It won
both the Sundance Audience Choice Award and the Special Jury Award for editing.
But the critics got one thing wrong: Murderball doesn't dispel myths and
stereotypes. It takes big fat bites out of those sugary sweet, pathetic images
and stereotypes, chews 'em up and spits 'em out. It's not a magic pill that will
make pity and stereotypes go away, but it is quite simply the best film ever
made on disability.
It amazes me that these filmmakers were able to render such an honest portrayal
of living life from the seat of a wheelchair. Somehow, either by the sheer
exposure to the people or by some innate understanding, directors Henry Alex
Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro "got it," and this film is a joy to watch,
especially the way we did, at a screening with family and about 12 other quads.
photo of Mark Zupan.
<http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/graphics/zupan83x119h.jpg>
Mark Zupan.
Murderball is quite simply the best film ever made on disability.
________________________________
This movie is funny. It is sad. It is fiery, fast, frank, explosive, sexy,
tender, loving, and the action is bone-jarring, just like quad rugby, aka
Murderball.
The music is perfect. The editing superb.
What more could you ask for? How about an obsessive villain, Joe Soares, and a
scary-looking good guy, Mark Zupan, who looks like he just jumped out of the
X-Games, tattoos and all? Soares left Team USA when he wasn't chosen to be on
the 2000 Paralympic team; out of revenge he became the coach of Team Canada.
This prompted some Team USA members to call Soares a traitor. Zupan said, "I
wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire." Game on!
That's the underlying conflict that drives Murderball to its conclusion: USA vs.
Canada, Soares vs. Zupan and every member of Team USA.
But there's a much higher message coming out of this movie, because the
filmmakers focused on the people. Even Soares is softened in the end, thank God.
Zupan, Andy Cohen and Scott Hogsett are in reality articulate, good-natured
guys, quite different from their rugby personas. They have wry, sarcastic senses
of humor, and they want gold, not hugs. They want women, not mommies. And they
succeed. Women love quads, and we love women. Women see quads as safe and
exciting because there's an instinctive curiosity women have about how "things
work." If they get too curious, they find out exactly how things work. Anyway,
those "rugby faces" on Zupan, Cohen, and Hogsett we see at tournaments don't
seem to be who those guys are at all. So that insight is refreshing.
Then there's Bobby Lujano, who comes off just like, well, Bobby Lujano. His
scenes are poignant, powerful, thought-provoking. When his father hugs him after
the USA loses to Canada in Athens, the love leaps off of the screen and into
your heart. If you're a softy like me, you will cry.
Murderball also follows a newly injured guy, Keith Cavill. His portrayal had me
flashing back on my early days of rehab. Watching his ride home from rehab, with
his quad hand stuck out the window feeling the scary air of freedom, was
emotional. We'd all had that same feeling: "Ok, I'm out, but now what? I'm
screwed." It's painful to watch him go through what every new spinal cord injury
goes through, but that's what shapes us. That's what makes us strong or that's
what breaks us.
In a scene later in the film, Zupan visits the rehab center and puts Cavill into
his rugby chair. Cavill lights up for the first time since his injury. He spins
around and gets the feel. He wants to hit something. He feels free. He feels
hope. All the while, a physical therapist is telling him to be careful; he's too
fragile. (Quads in the movie theater watching this scene just laughed.) Zupan
comes up to him; Cavill inches forward, then lightly bumps Zupan's everyday
chair. You can tell he wants to give Zupan a good solid whack. A quad rugby
player is born.
Photo of Joe Soares.
<http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/graphics/soares150x79h.jpg>
Soares argues a play.
If you able-bodied folks want to get some inkling of what living with a
disability is like, go see Murderball.
________________________________
Finally, there is Chris Igoe, whom I met at the screening and liked instantly.
Zupan and Igoe were best friends. After the drunken accident that broke Zupan's
neck, Igoe blamed himself. The two became estranged, Igoe nearly suicidal with
guilt. Igoe has finally forgiven himself, he told me. And Zupan feels that
getting injured was the best thing that's happened to him (His reaction is not
uncommon among quads who have survived and carved out a life for themselves.).
Their reconciliation on-screen is quite moving.
Murderball is about winning and losing. It's about driven athletes. But it's
mostly about survival and moving forward after one is injured. It's about
people, people who succeed and people who fail. Sound familiar? It's about life.
In real life, it doesn't have to be quad rugby -- you can find your passion and
pursue your dreams with any sport or work or art. It's whatever motivates you.
You can move past the devastation of being severely injured and live a happy,
fulfilling life.
If you able-bodied folks want to get some inkling of what living with a
disability is like, go see Murderball. You'll learn more in 85 minutes than you
could in a lifetime of politically correct "education." This movie is that good.
Posted Feb. 9, 2005
Ed Hooper, a 13-year veteran of quad rugby, coaches the Hoveround Lightning team
from Sarasota, Florida, ranked third in the the U. S. Quad Rugby Association.
Read Hooper's early articles from The Disability Rag in The Ragged Edge
anthology, available from amazon.com
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0962706450/raggededgemagaziA/> .
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