Unguarded

If ever there was a film I'd recommend every parent to show their teens, it's this one. That's because it's a very sobering story of a very successful athlete who had a serious drug addiction. He was on top of it all--playing for his hometown team, a lovely wife and some cute kids--but he was willing to throw it all away on a very wide variety of drugs. However, instead of preaching at you about this, the story is mostly told from the player, Chris Herren, himself. Fortunately, he has a few years of sobriety behind him and is now a motivational speaker who spreads the word about the effects of drugs on his life. Very sad but also very satisfying...let's just hope he continues on the path to sobriety. Well made and interesting throughout.

Unguarded (2011)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Another very good documentary from ESPN, this one taking a look at the career of Chris Herren, a Massacusettes player who was at the top of his high school and eventually got a scholarship to Boston College but it was around this time that he started experimenting with drugs. After leading Boston College he was given a second chance at Fresno State where he shined but once again drugs became an issue. After a stint with the Boston Celtics the drugs became too much and Herren found himself not working and near death. UNGUARDED is another very good film from ESPN and it's probably going to be their most meaningful to many people. There's no question that the message here is anti-drug and you can't help but be amazed at Herren's story. I'm sure most people are going to wonder why we need yet another documentary about a talented player who threw everything away for drugs but I'd probably answer that by saying if the film saves or inspires one person than it was needed and did its job. I think the most interesting thing about Herren's case is how extremely well he continued to play while on drugs. I was shocked to see one of his games at Fresno State where he pretty much ruled the entire game yet he was on drugs and hadn't slept. There's another story about him playing with the Celtics where minutes from the game he was outside on the street trying to score some drugs. The film features interviews with his friends and family as well as the likes of Rick Pitino and Jerry Tarkanian who coached him at Fresno. The film features Herren doing what he's currently doing, which is traveling to various places telling his story. We see him giving a speech at a drug rehab, a high school and a couple other places and it's clear that he certainly has a motivation skill and this story certainly speaks to people. I think the film's one flaw is the countless cutaway shots at people listening to the him story. I'm guessing this was done to show how caught up people were in the story but the story itself is strong enough to where the viewer doesn't need these cutaways to the crowd.

If there's one thing ESPN has showed me from both their documentaries The Fab Five and Unguarded it's that the famous sports company is capable and legitimately talented at compiling substantial content in order to produce a successful documentary on a specific athlete. Unguarded, one of the many ESPN documentaries of the 30 for 30 franchise, centers around basketball player Chris Herren, a Massachusetts native with an intriguing enigma and a voice like Pauly Shore, and how his shockingly talented skills with the ball were clouded by persistent run-ins with drugs and media scrutiny throughout his entire career.

Herren grew up in Fall River, a sizable town in Massachusetts, where friends are not just friends, but part of your extended family. Your younger or older brother isn't the one you tease but the one you love and protect. And you go to your friends before your parents if you have a problem staring you in the face. Herren found solace in his brother, Mike, a man heavily devoted to keeping him safe and protected.

Herren began his college basketball career at Boston College with a scholarship, but dropped out to be a part of Jerry Tarkanian's Fresno State team not long after. His drug use began at Boston, when he snorted his first line of cocaine after being pressured to by a buddy and two young girls. Despite his known history, Fresno State allowed him to play and Coach Tarkanian was very supportive of his aspirations as a professional basketball player.

But it only became worse. Herren's persistent cocaine addiction let down Tarkanian immensely, but was still given numerous chances to prove his worth. Upon graduating, Herren was a second round draft pick for the Denver Nuggets, where he states that he became clean due to the excessive babysitting the team's management pushed on him. Yet when he was traded to the Boston Celtics, where he was back home, he began a severe addiction to Oxycontin and eventually heroin which nearly killed him several times.

The film parallels itself with shots of Herren's current career, which is traveling across the country to high schools, prisons, and athletes and giving not a motivational speech but a recount of his nightmarish tale of drug addiction and the lengthy but not hopeless road to recovery, keenly reminding the audience that he once sat through long, bloated drug speeches during school and payed no attention. He discuss how he received much support from his longtime girlfriend and current wife, Heather, yet how he continued to dispose of it by neglecting his children and leaving all the weight of family to rest on her shoulders. The most chilling scene comes to life when Herren gives a deep account of when he went to the local Dunkin' Donuts to pick up munchkins for his kids and had passed out and needed to be revived in the parking lot after being dead for thirty seconds from a heroin overdose.

Unguarded is a must for aspiring athletes, but not essential viewing for those outside of the ambition, although it might be effective. Rather than having a majority of the story be told from the perspective of the parents of Herren, his brother, or his friends, director Jonathan Hock, who directed another 30 for 30 documentary called The Best There Never Was, allows Herren himself to speak for much of the film, never intruding on his personal story or punctuating the film with invaluable interviews.

Finally, the best aspect of this documentary is the father-son like relationship Herren held with coach Jerry Tarkanian during his career at Fresno State. We see Tarkanian continue to become emotional when speaking directly about Herren, and we see the way the man became so supportive of the star athlete despite impending scrutiny and persistent drug problems. This results in an admirably personal level to the picture's many layers.

Unguarded seems like a story that could simply be ostracized as "nothing new" and "standard anti-drug fare," but it's the personal qualities that elevate it to stand out of the crowd. Much like The Fab Five, the film doesn't hesitate to ask extreme questions and it doesn't fail to deliver slick production values and expertly edited game footage which are equal parts tantalizing and memorable. This is what you call a documentary that perfectly abides by its own rules and even boldly exceeds them. In my book, that's okay on any day.

Starring: Chris Herren, Mike Herren, and Jerry Tarkanian. Directed by: Jonathan Hock.