Film Reviews

Murderball

• Rating:
• Director: Henry Alex Rubin
• Starring: Andy Cohn
• Details: USA, 85mins, 15s.

Murderball, a documentary that follows the lives of a group of quadriplegic rugby players as they bash their way to the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, is more a story of the lives of the men rather than the brutal onslaught of their favourite game. Giving equal screen time to both the run up to the tournament and the lives of the players, directors Shapiro and Rubin allow the viewer to experience the hardships these men face every day and give in depth details on how the players came to be in wheelchairs. One player, Jeff Zupan, passed out in a friend's truck, which crashed and propelled him 60 feet in the air and Jeff was left hanging from a branch above a stream for thirteen hours. The most heart rendering moment comes when recently handicapped Kevin Cahill and his family struggles to come to terms with him being in a wheelchair. But it's not all doom and gloom as Rubin and Shapiro also have a little fun with the documentary as the animated fantasy sequences, which portray the players with limbs, give the film some humour. A film about dedication in the face of adversity, Murderball can sit proudly alongside the other uber sport documentary, Hoop Dreams.

Review by Gavin Burke