They Call Me Sirr

I had never seen this and a lady in the Library told me to check it out. I did and I am in my'30's and I was inspired. My kids loved the movie and I did not have to bleep the movie. I was very impressed of how it all worked out but I live i n Cincinnati and I was not familiar with this story and I love Sports! Sirr I pray the best for you and I am glad you were so courageous to have this told! Cincinnati or not, I am rooting for you! Pinky

I had never seen this and a lady in the Library told me to check it out. I did and I am in my'30's and I was inspired. My kids loved the movie and I did not have to bleep the movie. I was very impressed of how it all worked out but I live i n Cincinnati and I was not familiar with this story and I love Sports! Sirr I pray the best for you and I am glad you were so courageous to have this told! Cincinnati or not, I am rooting for you! Pinky

This could have been a good story but it's apparent that Canada doesn't have the actors or the resources to do a film that takes place in the hood. Michael Clark Duncan was good with what he had to work with. I didn't think it was a very good script, but it was a good true story. The kidd that played "Sirr" did an decent job. Aunt Jackie was good as well. The roles that suffered were the smaller roles. The thing about a film is that there are no small roles. Every role is a piece to a puzzle. If the "day-players" don't come off as pros your production suffers. The other thing about Canada is you can't do any big shots, because it doesn't look like where you're supposed to be. Know what I mean? And why was #34 playing quarterback? Those are some of the small things that make a film look legit. A director's mistake. Some films need to be shot where they took place.

I recently caught this film on DVD. I was so impressed with the tone of this film... In that I mean that a film like this could have gone overboard, or become melodramatic at any point, but it never did. It handled the relationships very truthfully, the dialogue was solid, real and never forced. Kente Scott and Michael Clarke Duncan were amazing together. The two perfectly played off one another as coach and student forming a bond that was paternal by the end of the film. Each actor gave the other the room to shine and never gave a false moment. The supporting cast was also terrific, especially the comic relief of Martin Villafana and Alonso Oyarzun who seamlessly transitioned from comedy to drama. Check this movie out... It's well worth it.

"They Call Me Sirr" is decent TV movie with a good performance by Michael Clarke Duncan. Make no mistake, this is no "Boyz in the Hood", but I was entertained. Do not expect the type of plot development that we would find in a feature.

I attended Texas A&M (where Sirr Parker played) from 1996 - 2001. I had the occasion to briefly chat with Sirr Parker and I believed then (as now) that he is one of the nicest, most sincere guys I've ever met. It was then with great interest that I rented this movie. As soon as I read it was about him, I snapped it up. Given that, I tried to like this movie. I really did. It just didn't happen.

For one, the chronology is at times hard to keep up with. This is especially true with when Sirr is in highschool. One minute, he's on the junior varsity team. The next minute, he's suddenly varsity. The next thing you know, he's starting. Verbal clues here indicate that THREE YEARS have passed (Sirr is now a junior). This is only compounded by the fact that Sirr's little brother NEVER GROWS UP! It's hard to tell when time is passing because the kid doesn't get bigger and doesn't age at all over four years. One big advantage of movies over the stage is the ability to manipulate time. Unfortunately, this ability is squandered here.

The dialogue is bad. Very un-natural. I don't fault the actors however. They only worked with what they had. If you give them "forced" drama to work with, you will get forced lines in return. Good dialogue will also create the plot (exposition). In this case, the dialogue did not sufficently express what the characters should have been feeling at that moment.

Finally, I'd never thought I'd say this but there needs to be some conflict and tension in the plot. Not an Armageddon-esque amount, but enough to help move things along. Yes, it sucks that Sirr has to watch over his brother WHILE working WHILE playing football. Yes, there is the alchie mom who comes and goes. There are plenty of conflicts, but each one seems to come up on a whim, and be dismissed just as easily.

It would appear that the screenwriter tried his best to give the viewer a broad vision of what Sirr went through. It's almost as if he felt pressure to jam it all into a two hour Showtime special. And in movies, as with techtonic plates, all that pressure means something has to give.