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Attack of the Mobility Challenged

"Murderball" presents to us a sport that was not even previously on my radar screen. Simply put, the aim of the game is the same as rugby, not that I have a real clue about rugby. Rugby always looked to me like two large disorganized groups of large men all bending over a ball until a referee blew a whistle. At that point what goes on is a total mystery to me.

All I'm sure of is that it looks violent enough to make football look like a quilting club. Blood and sweat pour from the various participants while the whole pack of men moves back and forth, a soccer like ball on the grass somewhere between their legs. I assume that the goal is to carry the ball in your possession over a goal line for some amount of points.

In "Murderball", co-directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro take us inside the world of quadriplegics who ride around on gym floors in wheelchairs specially equipped to damage and withstand damage. The rules of rugby are followed and the players and coaches, especially Joe Soares, the coach of Canada, are as intense as any athletes I've ever seen. Joe Soares is coach of Team Canada, despite his once being one of the top players on Team USA. After years of starring for the Americans he was cut from the team and in response became coach of the Canadians, with his only goal in life being to beat the Americans. This is made abundantly clear at his anniversary dinner with his wife. She offers a toast to their marriage and he responds by talking about beating the Americans. You get the idea.

Along the way we become familiar with most of the American team, some of whom played a role in their disabilities by driving with drunks, and others who merely suffered horrible luck. Mark Zupan, one of the top American players, is a tattoo covered, goateed fellow who I'm sure intimidates almost anyone he chooses to. His mutual hatred with Joe Soares is palpable. During games and before them they curse each other out and challenge each other to fights. Other players are just plain sweethearts and you can't help but root for them.

"Murderball" is incredibly manipulative, but how could a story about men in wheelchairs fighting for respect and to excel not be at least a little bit manipulative. The ending is a tad deceptive and misleading in order to have previously built an exciting climax, but other than that, the film rings very honest and true. When the film ended, my main thought was that I would like to go for a ride in one of those tailor made wheelchairs of death, as long as Mark Zupan was not in the building.