STEPHEN CURRY: UNDERRATED - Mark Reviews Movies

Stephen Curry: Underrated, Apple Studios

Follow on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Become a Patron

Review by Mark Dujsik | July 20, 2023

Stephen "Steph" Curry is so amiable and this documentary about him is assembled with such skill that Stephen Curry: Underrated almost makes one forget, ignore, and overlook the fact that it's entirely shallow. Director Peter Nicks barely attempts to examine his subject's life beyond his career, which is an admittedly and admirably impressive one, considering the challenges Curry faced to get to where he is now.

He wasn't tall or muscular enough, according to everyone who ever saw him off and on the basketball court. He was too quick to take long shots and didn't show the qualities of being a leader, according to a report written up about Curry before being placed for consideration of being drafted into the NBA (Former player Reggie Miller reads that report in an introductory scene that's forgotten until the end credits). During his high school career, Curry looked as if he belonged in middle school, and in college, he only just looked like a high-schooler.

Despite all of that, though, Curry has proven himself time and time again—winning four professional championships, breaking three-point-shooting records, and somehow coming across just as humble, as the basketballer seems in home movies and archival footage here, as he was as scrawny kid, teen, and young adult whom everyone doubted. He's definitely an athlete who should never be underestimated, and because of his drive and positive attitude, Curry's success is exactly the sort of inspirational underdog story that's perfect for the movies.

That's what Nicks delivers with this documentary, to be sure and repeatedly. The repetition, though, is an obvious symptom of the movie's most significant issue: It's all about Curry the basketball player and very, very little about the man in any other aspect of his life. To watch his ups and downs on the court, as well as his comebacks from those low points, is regularly stirring, but once it becomes clear that such is all the movie has to offer, the process becomes predictable, whether or not one knows the ins and outs of Curry's professional biography.

There are two major threads to the narrative of this documentary, which Nicks and editor J.D. Marlow interweave with considerable expertise. One tells the story of Curry's career at the time of filming, over the course of the NBA season starting in 2021. That begins with Curry making history by attaining the record of hitting the most three-pointers in the league's history.

Nicks gets some somewhat notable access to the man—from a post-game celebratory dinner for the record, to shooting a commercial (where Spike Lee, who shows up for some autographs and words of admiration, shows himself to be a true fan of the game—beyond the team against which Curry made that record-breaking shot), to scenes of him at home. It's pretty obvious that the filmmakers' access isn't uninhibited, since most of the behind-the-scenes footage revolves around training, practicing, and some nice moments with his three kids, who are bemused and amused by the fact that they're father is going back to school.

That leads to the other thread, which follows Curry as a young player, through his high school and college days, and, finally, to his decision not to finish his final year in college and participate in the professional draft. Through a series of interviews with Curry's parents and teammates and coaches (not to mention Curry himself, obviously), Nicks lets us hear the story that, well, an abundance of home movies and online/television broadcasts show us. Curry, the relatively short and skinny basketball player who—according to his mother—had yet to go through puberty in his early teens, works hard, finds his style of play, and earns the trust of his coaches and teammates to evolve into the star he is now.

Back and forth goes the narrative, with Nicks finding assorted connections by way of shared imagery (teammates touching raised fists), milestones and failures (Curry making or missing key shots), and ideas (his delayed education, as well as the importance of it for his parents, and a tricky ankle that gives him problems over the years). There are some notable stylistic choices here—such as the way Nicks edits together interviewees at different times and in different places looking as if they're having a conversation together—that lend some intimacy and immediacy to the movie.

It's mostly an illusion, though, as compelling as a younger Curry's rise may be (The present-day story gradually becomes less important, especially when Curry suffers an injury, and doesn't offer any deeper understanding of the subject) and as precisely as all of this material—the archival footage, the interviews, the at-home and at-practice and pre- or post-game scenes—is constructed together. We get to watch Curry make a name for himself with innate talent, plenty of dedication, and a refusal to let any perceived shortcoming or actual shortfall define and hinder him. As for how he developed into that kind of person and it affects anything in his personal life beyond his return to college, those are questions that, apparently, Nicks doesn't bother to ask, either directly or rhetorically.

As a result, Stephen Curry: Underrated never feels like anything approaching the complete story of its subject. It's a sports story through and through, which can be as fun but is as limited as that sounds.

Back to Home

Buy Related Products