'FIRST MATCH': Four Stars (Out of Five)
The new Netflix drama about a teenage girl from Brooklyn's Brownsville, who's spent years in foster care, that decides that joining the boy's wrestling team is the only way to reconnect with her estranged father. It was written and directed by Olivia Newman, and it stars Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome, and Jared Kemp. The film was released by Netflix through it's streaming site, and I found it to be a bit of a tearjerker at times.
Monique (Newman) is a teenage girl from the Brooklyn Brownsville neighborhood, who's spent most of her life growing up in foster homes. She really wants to reconnect with her father, Darrel (Abdul-Mateen II), and she thinks the only way she can do this is by joining the boy's wrestling team. The team even allows her to play, and she's good at it, but of course this isn't enough to win over her hard to pleased dad. So things become more extreme.
The movie is a little slow-paced, and too reminiscent of other similar themed dramas, but I have to admit that (towards the end of the film) the drama really got to me. Especially the climax. The two leads are really good in their roles (especially Emanuelle), and the movie really becomes a touching father/daughter love story at the end. There's even some exciting fight scenes in it as well. I definitely recommend it.
