2005, USA
Adventure, Documentary, Drama
Quadriplegics put their pants on one leg at a time like able-bodied folk, it just may take a little longer. There is no pity in directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro's documentary of quads relentlessly battling it out on the rugby court, and certainly no shame in a life on wheels. These members of the USA Paralympic quad rugby team take life full force, with their only remorse being for those who have no disabilities and spend their years on the couch.
The athletes of this film stress that their stories are not for Kleenex-at-the-ready movies of the week. Accidents of all sorts (polio, auto accident, blood disease, punch to the spine) caused their neck injuries and the resulting disabilities to all four limbs, but they are not completely paralyzed as most people assume. The film blows away all of the preconceived notions concerning the abilities of a quad, down to the nitty-gritty facts everybody wonders about but few ask. These boys are not shy, and divulge every detail of their lives as if they were sitting around the bar with their buds.
The film focuses on four members of the team and their nemesis on the other side of the court. The latter being Joe Soares, a legend of quad rugby who passed his peak and was subsequently kicked off the team, and who now holds a mighty grudge against the team that done him wrong. Such a chip is on his shoulder that he jumped the border and began coaching the Canadian team with his sight set on putting the American team in their place. Though arrogant and aggressive, he has to be credited for working hard to get where he is today.
Star of the show is the extremely charismatic Mark Zupan. Tattooed and goateed, he puts out a tough front, and he will back it up with a good brawl if you ask for it. Despite the attitude he exudes, this is a guy with a big heart. He has become spokesman for the team and gets a charge out of recruiting new players (or recent victims, depending on your outlook). It is obviously important to him and the other featured players (Scott Hogsett, Andy Cohn, and Bob Lujano) that people in rehab see the life that is available to them after they leave the hospital.
There is an overwhelming hope when someone is fresh from surgery that quadriplegia will not be his permanent lot in life. Eventually acceptance is granted, and these rugby boys readily confess they would not want life any other way. It has created opportunities they would otherwise not be able to pursue, such as traveling the world competing, with the highlight being the Para-Olympic games.
A touching slice of life occurs when the rugby team is sidestepped, and newly quadriplegic Keith Cavill is shown struggling with his new body. Even opening the hospital staff's farewell card is a frustrating ordeal. But when Zupan visits the rehab center to reveal the world of quad rugby, Cavill's eyes light up as a door is opened. This game is not merely a distraction, but a new mantra for life.
Rubin and Shapiro go all out to present a world foreign to most of the able-bodied population. The amount of information included is impressive considering that they have hidden it inside a wild ride of ramming wheels and tough talk. The competitions are fierce, the game is brutal, and the athletes are enthralling. At the end of this film you do not want to make a donation to a charity, you want to know where the closest team is and when they are playing next.
The extras on this DVD are abundant. Two commentary tracks are provided, one by players Zupan, Hogsett and Cohn (though after a night with the "Jackass" tv crew, the boys are pretty mellow), and the other by filmmakers Rubin, Shapiro and producer Jeffrey Mandel. The same players plus Lujano and Cavill are included in an interview with Larry King, where he pushes the terrifically inappropriate question, "If I had a magic injection and could cure you right now, would you take it?" There is a fairly funny episode of "Jackass," a behind the game featurette, and an update interview with Soares who begins by answering FAQ's and somehow gets sidetracked by the memory of the first sight of his wife's "sweater puppies." Also included is the NYC premiere where the boys and Soares trade barbs, deleted scenes, and a link and trailers for distributors ThinkFilm. A great package for a great film.