Murderball
November 18, 2005
- Dan Ramer,
DVDFile.com
During the zenith of the PC-era, it always seemed funny to
me how certain people thought the handicapped should be referred to as
“differently abled.” Are we insisting that so the
handicapped feel better, or so we feel better? Either way, no one
bothered to ask the members of the American and Canadian quadriplegic
rugby team if they minded being called “differently
abled.” And after watching their exploits in
Murderball, a raucous firecracker of a documentary, I have
some names for the participants I’m sure they’d prefer,
since they’re based solely on their personality, not their
physical impairments.
First, there’s a Joe Soares.
He’s a “hard-ass disciplinarian.” Soares, who
entered the wheelie set after a bout with polio, was the star of Team
USA’s Quad Rugby team until he was cut for suffering from the
all-too-human condition of advanced age. Angry, he became head coach
of the Canadian Quad Rugby team, and he must suffer the taunts of
players who call him a traitor to his country. Soares’ main
rival is American Quad Rugby player Mark Zupan. Instead of
“differently abled,” let’s call him a
“punk.” With a shaved head and medium-length goatee, Zupan
looks like a tough customer. Interviews with Zupan’s friends
reveal that the accident that disabled him didn’t make him into
a jerk. He was a jerk long before he wound up in a wheelchair.
Directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro set up this
mano-a-mano with the precision of an action thriller, but with the
emotional nakedness of a documentary. When the Soares-coached Canadian
team upsets the Zupan-led Americans in the 2002 world championship
finals in Sweden, the Americans have a new goal: beat the Canadians in
the inevitable rematch at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece. This
is of paramount importance to Zupan and his fellow teammates. They
refuse to be beaten by a man who abandoned them to coach a rival
squad. Intercut with their Athens training are more domestic scenes.
Soares, the son of a cop, teeters between tough-love and verbally
abusive in the raising of his young son, who plays the viola, but has
little interest in sports. Zupan has a girlfriend who admits being
attracted to him partially because his disability awakened her
mothering instincts. There are also the requisite discussions about
quad sex, and we’re treated to an instructional video, produced
so newly disabled men can start figuring out how to have sex again.
The film is beautifully and cleanly edited. It parcels out
packets of information exactly when you need it, and certain moments
are allowed to breathe. We learn how the major players received their
life altering injuries. Zupan was thrown from a pick-up truck driven
by his drunken best friend, Chris Igoe. At the time Rubin and Shapiro
began filming, the pair had yet to reconcile. When we first meet Igoe,
he comes across as dismissive of the effect he’s had on
Zupan’s life. The preliminary rugby matches are rock ‘em-
sock ‘em, but the climatic match is played out much more slowly,
with down tempo music. We also learn the ins and outs of how Quad
Rugby is played. The players sit in wheelchairs decked out like a
Mad Max vehicle. A goal is scored when a player, ball in
hand, wheels himself into the end zone. To keep things moving, players
must either pass the ball or dribble the ball every ten seconds. Quad
Rugby is definitely a contact sport, as wheelchairs clank together and
players capsize onto the floor.
We all know that
documentaries, like their in-bred cousin, the reality show, are
manipulated to a certain extent. But Rubin and Shapiro had me
scratching my head during two scenes. The first is at the climax of
the 2002 Swedish finals. Down by one with moments left, Team USA
mounts a Hail Mary assault, which is ruined when an American player
drops the ball. The flub is slowed down for effect, making the
audience think that the game was lost forever because the player
dropped the ball. However, I never had a sense that the player was
near the goal and, in fact, he just seemed to be parked at some random
spot on the court. The other instance was the reunion between Zupan
and Igoe. I sense their meeting was arranged by the filmmakers and in
the end, we weren’t given access to any words exchanged between
the two (hugs only). This noticeable omission robbed the movie of a
duel climax of the rematch between Canada and America and a reunion
between Zupan and Igoe.
But I quibble to the point of
being unfair. Murderball is such a good movie, with two such
riveting main characters, that their disabilities added little to my
enjoyment. And I say that as the highest compliment. If Zupan, the
rugged American, and Soares, the traitor, were on two legs, playing
regular rugby, their rivalry would have been just as interesting. Yes,
we see handicapped people making the most of their lives and we should
rightly be inspired by them. But the point here is not to pat them on
the head and say, “how nice you’ve taken lemons and made
lemonade.” The point is, handicapped or not, Team USA and Team
Canada are comprised of fiery, competitive, interesting people who are
triumphant like some of us, flawed like the rest of us. They have dug
deep into themselves, learned of their emotional and physical
limitations, and accomplished more then most people currently walking
on two legs.
The Video: How Does The Disc
Look?
Like all documentaries, the
video is at the mercy of the elements. According to an article I dug
up on apple.com, the movie was shot using a Sony PD 150 and a 24 fps
Panasonic DVX 100. It was edited on Final Cut Pro. This material looks
generally good, if not digital clean. This may be because the DVX 100
creates a more film-like and less “digital” looking
picture. Some of the bright lights are blown out and there’s
some fuzziness occasionally. Some scenes aren’t well lit, which
is excusable in the on-the-fly scenes, less excusable in the sit-down
interviews. Through the film, all colors of the rainbow make an
appearance, but the reds are a bit lazy. Sharpness is okay; I was
expecting something less dull. Not surprisingly, there are no print
flaws, since, you know, there is no print. There is some archive
footage, including Soares’ playing days and the instructional
sex video, which look justifiably below average. From a technical
standpoint, the transfer does a good job reproducing a decent original
recording. But from an entertainment standpoint, it looks fabulous!
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
Most documentaries don’t deserve a Dolby Digital 5.1 track,
but I can make a good case for this one. Since this is an MTV
production, there is plenty of grinding guitar music, which sounds
aggressive and clean. Some of the cues are more ethereal and tinkly,
and these sound very nice, utilizing the sides and surrounds. The
dialogue comes mainly from the center and is very understandable.
Questionable dialogue has subtitles. Lots of yelling tends to produce
moderate tearing. There is also a stereo mix, which sounds fine, if a
bit cramped compared to the more expansive 5.1 track. If you have a
Dolby Digital set-up, skip the stereo and go for the 5.1.
There are no subtitles and no alternate tracks.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Paramount has included a wide array of extras, many
worth watching all the way through. They definitely didn’t just
throw this DVD out there. The added effort further justifies a
purchase.
There are two audio commentaries.
The first is a Player Commentary featuring Mark
Zupan, Scott Hogsett, and Andy Cohn, who admit they’re tired
because “we pulled an all-nighter with Steve-O last
night.” And unfortunately, there’s more from the
Jackass crew elsewhere on the DVD. It was disturbing to hear
Zupan say the giant tattoo on his leg was a rub-on and “we did
it just for the documentary.” I’m sure he was kidding,
since I thought I heard a giggle. Lord, I hope so. Things like that
can throw the whole film into question. It was interesting to hear
these men, who are basically civilians, talk about how weird it was to
have their lives recorded for months on end. Even better,
there’s some fascinating tension when they talk about Soares.
You can tell they still don’t’ like him and it’s
almost uncomfortable to hear them discuss him. Anyway, it’s a
low-key commentary, nice and loose.
The second
audio commentary features producer Jeff Mandel and co-
directors Dana Adam Shapiro and Henry-Alex Rubin. They talk of how
difficult it was to decide whether the film was about quadriplegics or
a bunch of guys who play Quad Rugby. A thin, but crucial distinction.
Most of their comments are along these lines, where scenes were shot,
why scenes were edited the way they were. It’s a technical
commentary, without the emotion and freewheeling fun of the first
commentary. But documentary filmmakers will learn a lot about what
it’s like to comb through 200 hours of footage to make a 90-
minute film.
“Tonight, they’re sexy, handsome
world-class athletes and they’re quadriplegic!” An
intro like that can only mean Larry King Live and here we have the
complete 40-minute CNN interview between King and
five of the players featured in the film. The interview begins as
you’d expect, with questions about the accidents that made them
quadriplegic and how they’ve adjusted. The best part of the
interview is when Chris Igoe, who caused the accident that changed
Mark Zupan’s life, phones in. Igoe, called The Quadfather, talks
about losing his license and getting probation after the incident.
Quite virtuous is how Mark stopped the authorities from charging Igoe
with DUI with Serious Bodily Injury. You’re way better off
watching this than watching . . .
I understand that
Murderball is an MTV production, but that mean we have to sit
through a special episode of Jackass? I
mean, here are four guys, including Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O, who
stick pins in their nuts so they can get famous. I’m supposed to
think their magic wand of coolness will validate men who’ve
shown courage above and beyond anything they can imagine? Especially
when the most trenchant comment the cast can muster is “Yeah,
dude, Murderball is rad!” The MTV special includes the
cast of the show and the cast of the movie hanging out at some
restaurant, eating, drinking and watching girls make out. I’m
all for girls making out, but I’m too old to give a hoot what
the cast of Jackass thinks about anything. On the other hand,
if such drivel will convince younger audiences that
Murderball is worth watching, I guess that counts for
something, even if the whole thing is corporate-motivated. Maybe MTV
can get Ashlee Simpson to host a special about the holocaust
documentary Shoah. Man, that would be rad!
Murderball: Behind the Game is an 18-minute look at
the movie and how Quad Rugby is played, Too much of this featurette is
comprised of scenes from the movie and information we learned
elsewhere. But there are new interviews with Zupan, Soares, and other
players. It’s almost like a Cliff Notes version of the feature
film. Given that, I didn’t find it all that worthwhile. However,
if you skip it, you’ll miss Zupan telling the story of leaving
the hospital for the first time after his accident, on Halloween no
less, and “a guy goes ‘dude, I like your
costume’.” Zupan responded, “wish it was a costume,
buddy.”
Joe Soares Update
Interview gets us up-to-date on the man who is now captain of
the Quad Rugby team from Great Britain. He talks of the frosty
relationship between himself and Mark Zupan, saying they do a lot of
photo shoots and interviews together, but they’re “never
going to be the best of friends.” He apologizes for some
of his behavior during the film, especially the scene where, during an
anniversary dinner with his wife, he toasts Team Canada, not his wife.
It’s a simple, ten-minute feature that’s rather poorly
lit, but it’s a must-watch all the way through.
There’s some sweet footage of the main cast at the
film’s New York Premiere. After the film, Zupan
presents one of the cast members with a “sick” new
wheelchair. The video is a little dark and audio is very low, so
you’ll have to crank it up.
There are six
deleted scenes, adding up to about seven minutes. There is a
food fight scene, a sequence where the Soares plays softball and a
scene where one of quads bakes cookies. These bits were unnecessary
because I didn’t need to see these men doing
“normal” activities. The movie is not about quadriplegics
trying to be normal. The movie is about a drive and competitiveness
that is beyond normal. The video looks as good as the finished film.
Finally, there are some trailers and a
link to a website where those curious about people
with disabilities can learn more.
Final Thoughts
Murderball was extremely well received critically, but it
didn’t do well in its theatrical run. This is probably because
audiences didn’t want to see poor handicapped people heroically
straining to make the most of their forever-compromised lives. Well,
that’s a bunch of crap. Murderball is without
sentiment, and, by design, lacks any Hallmark-style inspiration.
It’s about a group of Type-A, kick-ass athletes competing in a
unique sport for which they are unfortunately qualified. The DVD
contains a nice transfer and plenty of extras. Highly recommended.
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