Irrelevant But Awesome

Alexa:  It’s no wonder John du Pont and the wrestling team he sponsored at his Foxcatcher Farm have been the subject of multiple documentaries, books and an Academy Award-nominated film. It’s a story that begins with athletic excellence and camaraderie and ends in inexplicable tragedy, with a successful wrestler’s life cut short by the man who championed his talents for years. The real-life events are more compelling than initially depicted in the Netflix documentary “Team Foxcatcher,” which chronicles du Pont’s interest in the sport, the launch of Team Foxcatcher, du Pont’s increasingly erratic behavior and the murder of Olympic gold medalist Dave Schultz. The film is essentially one part sports documentary and one part true crime saga, and the narrative feels a bit tentative and clunky during the former. But the filmmakers seem to settle into their element once the focus shifts to du Pont’s bizarre tendencies, the team’s growing discomfort and Schultz’s death. At that point ...

Joel:  As a fairly die hard Carolina fan, I had to consciously remind myself at points that this is a review about the movie itself, not the subjects covered in this documentary. Because I have some strong opinions on why you should hate Duke, but again, not the point of the review. I don’t think this is as strong of a movie as the 30 for 30 installment we watched earlier in the summer, but I think part of that is just the topic covered. The story isn’t as heart wrenching or as emotional as Once Brothers , but not all stories can be. The near universal hatred of Duke is an interesting thing, especially with it cropping up so recently in comparison to the history of the sport. And Christian Laettner is a great starting point to really dive into that era of Duke Basketball, but it feels like there’s so much more to be said. It’s almost like I want this movie to be the first in a series dedicated to fan passion when it comes to college basketball. I want to see the next several...

Chris:  As a life-long sports fan that grew up in the 90s, it was impossible to not know who Vlade Divac was but, tragically, I didn’t know much of Drazen Petrovic seeing as how he died in a car wreck when I was 5 years old. And I knew even less of the Yugoslav Wars and the Croatian War of Independence that lasted between 1991-95. This ESPN documentary portrays the multiple tragedies, the one of so many people that lost their lives during the war, a brotherhood that was split and, finally, the loss of life and the loss of what could’ve been one of the greatest NBA players ever. Saying that the deterioration of such a close bond is sad is a gross understatement and the saddest thing is that is all spawned from one incident with Divac and a fan celebrating with a Croatian flag after Yugoslavia won the 1990 FIBA World Championship. And the remorse is evident in Divac over being the cause of the ruined friendship, especially since they never settled their differences before Draz...