O Caminho de Volta

Whenever a new basketball movie comes out, I am always curious to see how the game is portrayed and what elements are used to differentiate the film from its predecessors. Upon watching, I discovered that The Way Back is not a purely basketball film but a story of a man stumbling through life and using the sport as a branch to prevent him from hitting the ground.

Ben Affleck puts a on compelling performance of a man battling his demons and despite basketball managing to bring some happiness into his life, he can never trully heal his scars. Considering how difficult it is to get creative with sports movies, through its narrative, this film manages to put its own touch which will make basketball fans enjoy the grit, realism and attitude towards the game. Music deserves a separate mention as it adds impact to the dramatic nature of the film.

#moviesshmovies

Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck) is an alcoholic construction worker separated from his wife Angela (Janina Gavankar) after a devastating tragedy. He is convinced to coach his alma mater Catholic high school Bishop Hayes basketball team. It's the site of his greatest glory where he threw away his potential and started a descent into addiction.

As a sports underdog story, this is very standard and straight forward. The most non-standard aspect of that happens at the end when it stops short. It's also very stripped down. The kids would normally get more screen time. Only one kid gets a functional character progression. Mostly, this is compelling for Ben Affleck playing a struggling alcoholic and director Gavin O'Connor trying to strip him down to the studs. My only complaint about his part is that he needs to show his self-destructiveness more overtly in the beginning. He should start in a bad place and then recover over the movie until he starts backsliding. It doesn't need to be a mystery.

This is a story about a man, approaching middle age, and out of the blue being asked to step in as head coach of a mediocre high school basketball team. That the man is an alcoholic battling his demons is the real story.

Ben Affleck is in the lead role as Jack, working in construction, separated from his wife and still grieving from the death of his young son just a few years earlier. His routine is to stop at the local bar after work and often being helped home, walking distance away, by a regular patron.

Jack had been a statewide basketball star in high school but gave up the chance to play in college at Kansas and a potential pro career. Because of issues related to his dad. And now his old school is asking him for help with the team.

This is a really good movie but hard to watch at times. Affleck himself has been on a similar path so his performance is very authentic. In a 5-minute extra on the disc he explains how his own battle with alcoholism entered into the characterization. My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

The dialog, acting, the characters, production value, etc. of this movie were excellent. It is a very honest representation of a man suffering with grief and alcoholism.

However, it suffers from being a retread of many other similar movies. You can trace the story arc easily and predict what will happen throughout. You also shouldn't go into this movie thinking it is a 'sports' movie, while basketball coaching serves as a vehicle of redemption, you could have written the same movie about someone taking a job teaching a class or working with special needs kids.

Finally, be warned that this is a very 'heavy' movie. There are a few lighter scenes, but >80% of the movie is dramatic and played for an emotional punch.

Worth a watch for Affeck's performance.

Looks like a sports movie and it is, but only for 50%, because there is much more to this story:.Ben Affleck is an alcohol addicted basketball coach, who volunteers to coach a team of lousy amateurs at his old highschool. That's the sports part of the movie.

But there is a lot of (bleak) slowburning drama as well. Look at the poster. Ben Affleck looks depressed and he is. In this story Ben Affleck has lost his wife, his son has died and he has lost every dream or hope he has ever had. He only drinks himself into oblivion to numb his pain. Will he in some way be able to start coping with the death of his young son, which caused him to start drinking in the first place? That's the heart of this touching movie.

The good: Terrific acting performance of an alcohol addict by Ben Affleck. Subtle direction of this drama by director Gavin O Conner. Really touching and UPLIFTING story.

Any bad? Well, it's certainly not a straight forward success sports movie. It's quite bleak and depressing at moments, because the real focus of this movie is about Ben Affleck's alcohol addiction and some might not like to watch such a slowburning movie about such a bleak subject... I did though. I was really impressed...