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A MOST BEAUTIFUL THING
Director: Mary Mazzio MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:35 Release Date: 7/31/20 (Xfinity); 9/1/20 (Peacock); 10/14/20 (Prime) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | July 30, 2020 Note: Chaz Ebert, one of the film's many executive producers, is also the publisher of RogerEbert.com. I am a contributor for that website. Stories matter, and in addition to the inspiring one at its core, A Most Beautiful Thing gives us many other stories, too—more personal, more troubling, more complicated, and even more inspiring than a group of friends reuniting 20 years later to participate in a rowing race. Director Mary Mazzio doesn't do much in terms of filmmaking, but she doesn't have to. She's wise enough to know that these men, their families, their faces, and, most importantly, their stories should be the primary focus. The documentary introduces us to members of the first high school rowing team to be made up entirely of Black athletes. They're from the West Side of Chicago, growing up in the 1990s, when gang activity had become a way of life. Rowing, a businessman believed, might be a way to change some lives. For those who survived, it did. Now, those men—accomplished but still impacted by living in a place where most kids don't think they'll reach 18—tell their stories. The film is based on the memoir by Arshay Cooper, one member of the rowing team. He narrates passages from the book to provide context of the overall narrative, while Common voices Mazzio's own observations about the importance of this story. They get the job done, but like the film's often intrusive and emotionally manipulative score, they're also blatantly on-the-nose. Such narrative and tonal reinforcement is unnecessary anyway. We get everything we need for the story and for that story to be affecting from these men, as well as several members of their families. Mazzio's camera just observes them, often in close-up, as they relate their experiences before, during, and after joining the school's first rowing team—becoming the first all-Black high school rowing crew in at least the history of this country. The stories are of pain, loss, fear, regret, and long-lasting trauma (Some experts explain how growing up in such a high-stress, life-or-death environment affects the development of the brain). All of that is still there for these men. We can see it on their faces, but A Most Beautiful Thing also shows how far they have come. The climactic races, one with a quartet of local cops joining the team, aren't just about their own individual successes and survival. They're about proving to other generations that there can be another way, second chances, and hope. Copyright © 2020 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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