Sweetwater movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Sweetwater

This inspiring and true story is now playing on Angel Studios.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 58 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A

IN A NUTSHELL:

When I was just a little girl, I remember watching the Harlem Globetrotters on TV. There was a funny cartoon series about them that I watched on Saturday mornings. I loved it so much that I talked my dad into taking me to see the real team when they came to our city on tour. He bought me a mini basketball from that event which I kept for years and loved.

The story in this film is about Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton who made history in his journey to become the first African American to sign an NBA contract, forever changing the game of basketball.

The film was written and directed by Martin Guigui. Already, it has been nominated and won 17 awards from various film festivals around the world, including “Best Film”, “Best Director”, “Best Story”, and “Best Actor”. Congratulations to the team!

THINGS I LIKED:

I really admire Jim Caviezel for choosing good, Christian movies in recent years to boost that genre of film. Yes, fans are asking for more films with good values and less wokeness…by the millions. Jim is really only in the beginning and end of the movie, but it’s always good to see him. As always, he did a terrific job in his role.
The rest of the cast does a fantastic job and includes recognized Hollywood names like Richard Dreyfuss, Eric Roberts, Cary Elwes, Jeremy Piven, Mike Starr, and Kevin Pollak, as well as some unfamiliar faces.
Everett Osborne crushes it as Sweetwater. He looks great and plays basketball like he’s truly the star he’s playing.
Even if you’re not a huge basketball fan, you’re still going to enjoy all of the fun basketball scenes and impressive skills.
There are lots of emotional and educational moments.
The film does a great job showing us what racism in sports looked like “back in the day” in the 1950s in the USA.
I love it when filmmakers pay attention to the details when trying to create a period piece that looks authentic. The production elements were outstanding.
The soundtrack is absolutely lovely. As if the writer/director Martin Guigui wasn’t working hard enough on this film, he also created the music with Jeff Cardoni.
Sweetwater really did drive a taxi in Chicago during his later years in life!
Keep watching at the end of the movie to see real-life footage and to see him speak and play basketball!
We’ve seen a lot of underdog, sports biopics over the decades, yet most of us have never heard of Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton. It’s about time his story was told.
The story is filled with heart. You’ll cry and cheer.
Hollywood film critics are mostly trashing this movie with a disrespectful score of 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences are loving it, awarding it a 95%. I definitely agree with the audience score.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Some of the characters who were “racist white men” felt very one-dimensional. The villain of the story is basically the group of white men who had no vision for the sport, relying on tradition and the color of the players’ skin.
Even though the story teaches us about the NBA, we don’t see an NBA on the screen until Act 3.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

The “N” word is used as a racial slur
Violence
Bullying
You have to read details to some things on the screen
Some profanity

THEMES:

Teamwork
Willingness to work hard
Climbing mountains of change
Racism
Hope
Working toward your goals
Persistence
Passion
Growing your God-given talents

FUNNY LINES:

INTERESTING LINES:

“Just because you’ve never see it before does not make it illegal!” – young coach when Sweetwater dunked a ball for the first time ever during a public game

OTHER MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

The Green Book: https://moviereviewmom.com/the-green-book-movie-review/
Hidden Figures: https://moviereviewmom.com/hidden-figures-is-an-overdue-movie-with-heart-and-humor/
The Long Game: https://moviereviewmom.com/the-long-game-movie-review/