Michael Jordan: An American Hero

When did they make a movie about MJ? Did I miss a meeting? I'm sick and tired of Jordan. All we ever hear is how great he is. All we ever see is Ahmad Rashaad and all the other pawns sucking up to him. His career numbers don't dwarf th others in his sport, like Gretzky or Marino. Yet, so many Jordan supporters suggest he is unquestionably the best player ever. What about Bird, Magic, or Bill Russell for god's sake. All that's irrelevant. I like Michael Jace. He was awesome as conflicted Julien Lowe on "The Shield". But Any movie made about the most overhyped athlete in history was bound to be crappy. Jordan is beloved, and he is never held to his mistakes. Jordan the American hero? Ask his wife...

The name pretty much butchers this (ahem) movie. Look, Michael Jordan is a great Basketball player & a legend to the NBA (let alone the Chicago Bulls). But he was never a soldier in a war or anything like that. So why would Fox Family intitle this (ahem) movie 'An American Hero'.

That Michael Jace character doesn't really look much like M.J.. But the rest of the movie should be at least worth watching. That is, if it's still on T.V. anymore now that the Fox Family channel is dead & gone.

In the 1960's when Michael Jordan was a young boy in the suburban middle classes throwing a basketball into a dustbin instead of a hoop and playing baseball, nobody would have suspected what he would become some thirty years later. An early experience of racism perhaps puts him off baseball but he takes up basketball with the same intensity that he approaches everything. High Schools seems him working hard to get into the main school team and from there he continues into North Carolina's starting line up. It is here that he makes his name and when he is drafted by the Chicago Bulls it is only the worries of his doting parents that cause him pause.

Like most people across the globe, I'm an admirer of not only Jordan's skills but also his drive to get what he wanted – that I had a thimbleful of that motivation. So it was natural that I would take the chance to watch this film, especially since this was the first I had seen available on television in the UK. Having read the book "Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World he Made" I like to think that I am at least a bit aware of Jordan's history if nothing else and it is a shame that this film doesn't quite have the same eye for a story and for a character that the aforementioned book did. Instead the film is like a sprint through elements of the story, never missing an opportunity to simplify or turn into melodrama anything that might have approached an interesting moment. The basic story doesn't feel anywhere near as interesting or as inspiring as it really is mainly because the film just skims through things to the point where it feels more than a "by the numbers" TV filler movie than it is a true story; in fairness that is just what it is – by-the-numbers filler stuff; the subject really deserved better.

The cheap and cheerful effect is felt mainly in the script, which allows for no real character development and no development of themes. The writers knew they had to have their Jordan be competitive, learn teamwork and other things that are well known – so these things are put in in one or two scenes and then never really run through the character as a trait in the way it should have been. Outside of this there is nothing and all the actors just feel like they are reading lines and playing whatever character is easiest to do. Some have been very harsh on Jace but, having seen him do good work with a good character on The Shield, I can't help but feel sorry for him because the script gives him nothing to work with apart from basic emotions and actions. Support is no better; Hudson just plays it affable and warm, Givens has two notes to hit and just about does them. The very low budget is shown in the actual production – nobody wanted to pay out cash to use the NBA logos and such so the strips simply have the words "Chicago Bulls" written on it and the NBA logo is just a wiggley line! The game action would have struck me as being pretty damn important but it is sorely lacking; normally we see the celebrations after a win (very poor atmosphere) but the one or two shots we see in the whole film are filmed so that we assume it goes in so that Jace doesn't have to make the shot to get the take to count! Overall this is a worthy subject but a terrible film. It is cheap, poorly written, the characters are paper-thin and the game action is so lame as to make you wonder why they bothered with it at all. There is a fascinating character piece within this story and there are plenty of books that tell it reasonably well but this film is certainly not able to do anything with it. In fairness it is no worse than all the melodramatic nonsense clogging up daytime television but the fact that we all know the real story (and know it much better than this told it) means that this is a total waste of time.

There were so many goofs in this movie. I only watched it once, and I still ask myself why I did. For starters, Jordan never had an afro in college. In the pros, he did not go bald until about 1989, but they had him bald as a rookie. Also as a rookie, which was 1984, I know those shoes were from the 1995 or 1996 season. I also did not understand the locations of certain scenes. I know that the scenes of the Bulls home games were filmed in what looked like the L.A. Sports Arena, where the Clippers used to play. And what's with the zero for players with single digit numbers. For example, John Paxson was number 05. And the actors could not look less like the real people. Robin Givens as Juanita? Juanita is not that dark, and Debbie Allen does not look like his mom. Also, Phil Jackson is about 6-8 and Michael Jace was taller than the guy that played Jackson. There were so many things wrong with this movie, I'm glad the only evidence it was ever made is this website.

An over dramatized and partially fictional account of the life of his airness. This is one of those cheesy, before it's time, yarns that could've waited a few years until it was picked up by a director with the expertise and resources to sign believable and talented actors and to treat the story with the reverence and dignity that it will deserve in time.( see The Greatest). the fast food type environment in which this film is presented, complete with cheesy, fake NBA uniforms, Stadiums that look like your local high school gym, and just a general appearance of lookalikeness that borders on condescending, just adds to the tedious nature of the proceedings. I'll admit that the storyline, all the familiar Jordanesque tales, and following this "Michael" mimic the life of the real MJ, will hold your attention. But as you watch, you keep shaking your head at the overall quality and cheesiness of the whole affair. Don't fool with this one unless you're an MJ junkie, and even then, only if you can stand sports themed flicks with actors with little to no athletic skill.