Another from the "obscure Showtime On Demand" movies. Similar to "Hoop Dreams" or ESPN's "The Season", this documentary covers the senior year of football player Taurean Charles at Northwestern Miami High School.
Not known for their academic scores, Northwestern has a strong football tradition. They've produced several big time college players and roughly 20 NFL players. Charles is the latest bluechipper All-American and draws the attention of several college recuiters.
This film is a good look at the pressure and mild celebrity status that gets forced upon such players. Charles gets lost in his celebrity status and prints up custom silkscreened t-shirts, advertising himself as "T-Diddy". He also gets a cut of gambler's winnings after games, and makes no attempt to hide this. His biggest challenge is the SAT, where he can't make the minimum cut-off score for a college scholarship.
In the background, some of the most disturbing coaching incidents ever caught on film are shown. Coaches routinely curse, slap and throw their kids around (Earle Bruce had nothing compared to this staff). During a game, one coach shove a kid around and threatens to "break my foot off in your fucking ass!" Wildest incident occurs between Charles and another coach. The coach accuses a runner of being a "fucking pussy" and taking it easy on Charles, who had just returned from an injury. Charles attacks the coach, in the middle of practice, and starts wailing away.
Charles gives some funny soundbytes, but the best comes from an un-named student. The student narates how Charles and five other starters got in trouble for doing a "dine n- dash" at Pizza Hut (left without playing their bill). "He oughta give his jersey to Pizza Hut and they can frame it on their wall. Here's the bitch who tried to steal a pizza".
The film ends with a happy ending for Charles. But, a quick Google search for "Taurean Charles" will show you that he's a gully thug. He may have gotten out of Miami's Liberty City, but he's going nowhere.
1/4 numb butt movie, but will not hold up for a second viewing. Good if you've ever been involved in big-time high school football.