Sweetwater

Sweetwater was a very interesting film as it had moments of depth and heart. Then about 60% of the film there was a lot of cheesy moments that pretty much derail the film. The story is a real life one but still in a the lense of a movie is really hollow and predictable. The only thing I did not see coming was how the film ended because I had never followed the real life story before about Sweetwater. When you watch this movie you would be asking yourself why wasn't this movie just released on lifetime instead of through Hulu. Still there were moments that I really enjoyed even though there is a major problem with the casting here. Sweetwater gets a middle of the road 5 stars out of 10.

Sweetwater is a hidden gem getting new life. It was released April 14, 2023 and only grossed $541,633. It's a real shame because it deserved more than that. It has all the heart and quality star actors as "Field of Dreams". Angel Studios is giving it a well deserved second chance on their streaming platform. Newcomer Everett Osborne is the soul of this biopic of Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton who was the first black man to play professional basketball in the NBA. Michael Jordan has been quoted as saying "there would be no Michael Jordan without Sweetwater". If you like biographical stories, sport themes, and historical dramas; this movie should be right up your alley. The other, more seasoned actors, are Cary Elwes, Jeremy Piven, Richard Dreyfus's, and Kevin Pollak. Not sure why it didn't get more notice by a wider audience on its first release. Maybe it's because a couple of the actors have lost favor in Hollywood for alleged transgressions, maybe it's because people are watching their spending as inflation is sweeping the nation the last 4 years and people are content to forgo the theater experience for comfort in their own home theater, or maybe they didn't have enough money for a decent ad campaign and people just didn't know it existed. I sure didn't. I hope people give it a chance. It has received consistently positive reviews from those who have watched it, so we know it isn't due to a quality issue.

I attended a premier for this movie in Arizona for the White Mountain Film Festival without any idea of what the film was about.

I not only find the movie engaging, but heartwarming as well. Looking at reviews by the "expert critics" I can understand why Hollywood has lost its way. This movie is rooted in truth, not social justice and all of the actors involved (and those who excluded themselves as to not confuse the story) have done a phenomenal job.

This is a movie I will show my children, as a way to understand where we have been and where we should be going. It's not about color, it's about passion and how we should all strive to work together to make things better, and more enjoyable in life.

A sports writer climbs into a Chicago taxi cab gushing about Michael Jordan. Little does he know that the driver is groundbreaking negro basketball player Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton (Everett Osborne). In 1949, Nat and his Harlem Globetrotters teammates beat the all-white NBA champs, The Minneapolis Lakers. They are led by team owner and coach Abe Saperstein (Kevin Pollak). New York Knickerbockers coach Joe Lapchick (Jeremy Piven) is desperate to get Nat on his team and break the color barrier. He convinces his boss Ned Irish (Cary Elwes).

This needs a singular villain character. Sure, the villain is general racism which comes up everywhere and from all directions. The movie needs one character to encapsulate all that evil. It has elements of a good biopic, but it doesn't have the bite. It introduces the style of play argument a little too late. For me, it came out of nowhere although I guess there is that discussion in the taxi cab. It needs that childhood memory a lot sooner. It's a great story that needs to be told. Abe is a complicated personality in the story of basketball and I'm glad that the movie didn't make him too one-sided. It is still a simplistic portrayal. All in all, I love the true history aspect. The movie is pretty ok. It's an underdog sports biopic.

Most sports fans know the story of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. And most NBA fans know the story behind AIR - certainly Bulls and Michael Jordan fans of a certain age do. But I did NOT know the story about Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, and neither did my 87-yr. Old dad who played against the Globetrotters in his younger years.

Sweets' break into the NBA happened a mere 2-3 years after Jackie R.'s into MLB. Jackie's style of play didn't change baseball; Sweets' style of play definitely changed NBA basketball!

Not sure why there are no trailers or ads for this movie filling up our movie and TV screens, but it is an entertaining movie with a good cast, too.

*Highly recommend*