Film Review - Champions (2023)

Marcus (Woody Harrelson) is a basketball coach for a minor league team and he has his own personal demons, he’s aggressive, self-absorbed and maybe even has a drinking problem. Then one night Marcus gets arrested during a drunk and disorderly incident and gets thrown in front of a judge. Seeing his potential to do some good, the judge assigns him to 90 days community service and the catch is that he’ll be coaching an intellectually disabled team.

Champions is a feel-good comedy adapted from the original Spanish film Campeones and directed by Bobby Farrelly. Reuniting director Farrelly with Woody Harrelson after the underrated Kingpin, fans of the Farrelly brothers may come in with certain expectations. Known for their gross out humour and irreverent inclusion of disabled people amongst the cast in their movies, the Farrelly brothers were pretty much the only directors showing what disabled people can do on screen.

However, these days it seems as if the message has got through and whereas things are still not perfect when it comes to disabled representation on screen, they’re getting better. So, despite the people behind the camera, there may still be some trepidation when it comes to what Champions does with its cast.

Thankfully, despite the lack of gross out comedy it feels like Champions was something the Farrellys would have made themselves, even if it isn’t quite as subversive. There’s something to be said for their style of comedy, but perhaps it was a good choice to leave out some of their more unique stylings as it could have overshadowed the story and felt dated. Saying that though, with a strong Nineties soundtrack and a good cast working together, it’s bound to leave a smile on the faces of the audience.

However, it does feel like Champions could have been made by anybody and that’s down to a script structure which is about as formulaic as it comes. Most people who have seen sports comedies like The Mighty Ducks and Dodgeball will feel like they’ve seen it all before and may have to be in a certain mood to get the best out of Champions.

The spirit may still be there, but it feels like a story that’s just going through the motions rather than telling the audience something new about disability. Something that’s particularly surprising considering Champions is a remake.