As Episode 1 of "Maradona: Blessed Dream" (2021 release; 10 episodes averaging about 60 min. Each) opens, we are in "Punta Del Este, Uruguay", and we are following an overweight Diego Maradona who is struggling to stay on his feet. As he finally collapses, his life flashes by before his eyes. After the opening titles, we are in "Buenos Aires, Argentina", and all a young Maradona (7-8 years old?) can think about is playing football. He hangs out with his friends at a local farmer's market, offering to help carry fresh vegetables... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.
Couple of comments: at the beginning of Episode 1, we are reminded that this series is "inspired by true events". Translation: much of what we see may or may not have happened, who knows. Yes, Maradona was one of the world's greatest footballers ever, that much we know. Yes, he had a hard life, much of it by his own choice. But that doesn't mean that what the producers of this mini-series are showing us, actually happened. This mini-series is out for sensationalism, pure and simple. Maradona is portrayed by a slew of different actors along the way. Much of this was a major turn-off for me, to be honest. If you really want to know what Maradona was like, I'd readily suggest you check out the 2019 documentary "Diego Maradona", directed by Oscar-winning Asif Kapadia (he won an Oscar for the Amy Winehouse documentary "Amy"). Now that is quality! "Maradona: Blessed Dream"? Not so much. (As a complete aside, but also not good, I found it was impossible to watch this on Amazon Prime in its original format, i.e. In Spanish and then adding English subtitles. Instead Amazon Prime is showing this in a horrible English-dubbed version that pushed me away from this even further. Amazon Prime would not allow me to change to the Spanish original version, adding English subtitles.)
"Maradona: Blesses Dream" premiered recently on Amazon Prime, and you can also catch it on Amazon Instant Video. All that said, I cannot recommend this mini-series in good conscience to anyone, and instead would urge you to check out Asif Kapadia's 2019 documentary instead. Viewer beware!
