Under Pressure: The U.S. Women's World Cup Team (2023)
A Quick TV Review

To say that the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was a disappointment for the U.S. Women's National Team (USWNT) is a serious understatement, especially considering the overall and imposing success Team USA has had in its history (including four Olympic championships and six total Olympic podiums).

A recap of what happened, and perhaps why, is the focus of Netflix's Under Pressure: The U.S. Women's World Cup Team, released in late 2023 to review what had been the world's top-ranked team's build-up and run through the World Cup.

Clearly, the producers had been hoping, and perhaps expecting along with the rest of us, that the USWNT would romp its way to the final, letting this (likely) pre-planned documentary be a celebration of another strong record. Starting off with introductions to team newcomers like Kristie Mews and Lynn Williams while receiving call-ups to the final squad could just have easily been the lead off to that celebration of a team that persevered through huge changeover from previous iterations.

Of course, fate had other plans. The team - generally struggling with a lack of familiarity with each other - limped through the Group Stage in second place, before losing in its first knockout game against old nemesis Team Sweden. And so naturally turned the tone and focus of Under Pressure.

Was it a function of that unfamiliarity? And/or that the rest of the women's soccer world has 'caught up" significantly in recent years? Simply under-coaching? Under Pressure doesn't provide concrete answers. Williams laments that in the days immediately following the team's exit there wasn't closure of debriefing, and we, the viewers, feel that way a bit, too, with an Under Pressure that doesn't offer answers. Perhaps one can just leave it to a basic fact of life in sports...evolution continues, sport moves on, and no dynasty is forever.

There are bright moments to celebrate here, particularly Mewis scoring a penalty kick in her first tournament touch, and a nice look at her support of partner Samantha Kerr's Team Australia. And Under Pressure's bit of an left turn addressing the eventual champion Team Spain's behind-the-scenes federation travails is an opportunity to remind everyone of the history of the USWNT - both on-the-field and off-the field with its championing of its players' rights. That's definitely something worth remembering.

And so is the fact that Paris 2024 beckons soon. The USWNT is qualified. Will a win there erase memories of 2023? Such things do have a funny way of providing some closure...

Break Point (2024)
A Quick TV Review

The first season of Break Point in 2023 was an eagerly anticipated entry to Netflix's sports documentary library that mostly succeeded in offering an engaging, if introductory, look at some behind-the-scenes drama of select tennis stars' on-court ambitions during the 2022 season. How would the second season, released just ahead of this year's Australian Open, stack up?

Well...not as strongly. Though announced fairly early last year, the second season's six episodes (compared to the first's 10) feel lighter and certainly less revelatory.

There are a couple of notable exceptions. Maria Sakkari, a returning subject from season one, remarkably let's her vulnerability show as her mental confidence is shaken in a rough patch mid-tour season.

Also, the focus on another returnee, Aryna Sabalenka, offers a strong rebuttal to the 'Netflix curse' seemingly affecting season one's cast, as she opens season two with a championship in Melbourne and closes with a number one ranking after the U.S. Open.

Otherwise, there is a cursory feel to Break Point's season two coverage. Other returnees, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, don't have the compelling moments on-court season one showcased to color this turn's backstories.

While segments on series newcomers Holger Rune and Tommy Paul offer some depth on their respective backstories, others on Ben Shelton, Coco Gauff, and Jessica Pegula feel somewhat short shrifted. And, whereas season one featured a robust roster of experts offering narrative and commentary, it's up to retired star Jim Courier to be the sole returning voice - another comparative lightness issue.

I'm also curious to the decision to avoid mention of the unique, tense year that Sabalenka had in '23, where 'handshake gate' was a significant issue. Relatedly, there was no mention again of the general playing conditions Sabalenka (and other Belarusian and Russian players) found herself in still after Ukrainian war-inspired restrictions.

Which highlights another curious production choice...Tokyo 2020 champion Alexander Zverev's inclusion. While his comeback from injury was a compelling tour storyline, the fact that abuse allegations dogged him still in 2022 might have sent producers looking beyond Zverev as a subject. That they didn't was curious, particularly when Break Point  showcased Zverev's angry emotions getting the best of him after a disappointing loss. That a charitable foundation appearance by Zverev was included felt very distractingly PR-driven.

All that said, the on-court action was filmed well...and sounded well (tennis is a feast for the ears, too, after all). And, it's always a treat to see a personal side of Olympians, as aside from Zverev, Tiafoe, Paul, Sabalenka, Pegula, and Sakkari were also at Tokyo 2020). Plus, as of the time of this writing, the 'Netflix curse' doesn't seem to affect this year's cast in the Australian Open...yet.

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Make sure to check out Games and Rings' looks at other Olympic-related shows, films, and books under the A Quick Review tag.

The Boys in the Boat (2023)
A Quick Film Review

Published in 1913, the historical account by Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics reintroduced to readers the story behind one of Berlin 1936's compelling backstories of its athletes - the men's eights rowing crew that secured gold despite a hard scrabble background that saw them persevere despite unique challenges.

Unfortunately, the film adaptation - The Boys in the Boat released in late 2023 and directed/co-produced by George Clooney - fails to deliver the same inspiration and consistent drama that inspired Brown's novel.

And that's a shame, because that drama sure is worth retelling. A group of young men, collectively more working class than traditional crews, come together at the University of Washington to eventually become unlikely world-beaters, set against the challenges of the Great Depression and the spectacle of the 'Nazi-fied' Olympic environment.

While The Boys in the Boat centers the plot around Team USA's Joe Rantz (played by Callum Turner), as did Brown's novel, the film doesn't deliver enough insight to the other members of the boat. We learn Donald Hume (Jack Mulhern) is the quiet one with a knack for the piano, and that coxswain Robert Moch (Luke Slattery) was a relatively late addition to the team...but that's about it. The remainder are largely nameless, which is a sharp departure from the novel.

As is the small buildup to what appearing at the Olympics was like, since much of the novel's spirit is drawn from the odd circumstances of Berlin 1936, with the Nazi-inspired attempts to control a German-centric narrative and exhibition. Also, with Team USA being the four-time defending Olympic champion in the men's eights event entering 1935, the fact that this ragtag crew earned entry as the American representative was much more impactful in historical context than The Boys in the Boat offers.

That said, it's always a delight to see an Olympic athlete story on the big screen. And, The Boys in the Boat does deliver a good-looking film, in tones, colors, and set & costume designs that mark the era. And who doesn't love a good overhead shot of crews in action?

We Dare To Dream (2023)
A Quick Film Review

Do you need an inspiring movie this holiday season? The aptly-named We Dare to Dream has been thankfully made available on streaming service Peacock, offering a just-intimate-enough look at the premise of the International Olympic Committee's Refugee Team through select featured athletes.

Responding to the increasing global refugee crisis, the IOC created the Refugee Team program to debut at Rio 2016 as a pathway to support elite athletes whose careers may have otherwise been thwarted by their stateless status.

From a team of 10 at those Rio Games, the program expanded to 29 at Tokyo 2020, with an even larger pool of candidates aiming for Paris 2024. Both the IOC's commitment to the program, and the need for it, are apparent.

We Dare to Dream takes a look at four of those Tokyo 2020 Olympians - weightlifter Cyrille Tchachet II, runner Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, canoeist Saied Fazloula, and taekwondo star Kimia Alizadeh. Each has their own unique, dramatic path to how they found themselves as a refugee, with their elite experience - Tchachet a Commonwealth Games competitor, Fazloula an Asian Games medalist, and Alizadeh a Rio 2016 medalist - underscoring the quality of athletes' abilities found on the team and the potential tragedy for their Olympic dreams to not have an outlet were it not for the Refugee Team pathway. Getting to know each backstory is the heart of We Dare to Dream, and powers one's attention as they navigate qualification, the Covid-19-enhanced circumstances of the Tokyo Games, and, ultimately, Olympic competition.

For added perspective, we also get to briefly know another taekwondo athlete, Wael Fawaz Al-Farraj, whose dashed hopes for Tokyo 2020 selection exemplify the greater number of refugee athletes not on the final team - but who persevere. "Hope is constant, and dreams must continue", offers Fawaz Al-Farraj as attention eventually turns to Paris 2024.

Directing the documentary is Waad Al-Kateab, whose own experiences as a refugee herself likely enhanced the sensitive and empathetic touch the film has with its athletes. As she knows well, "we all deserve to live, dream, and fight in a new way".

We Dare to Dream provides a welcome look at Olympic athlete stories too-often neglected amidst the common nationalistic fervor that can accompany the Games - individuals who personify the drive to compete and succeed at their chosen sport, and even despite the luxury and privilege of national system support. Is that not Olympic spirit?

Mavericks (2022)
A Quick TV Review

"Montana breathes freestyle", as in freestyle skiing. So posits the cast of freestylers profiled in Montana PBS' Mavericks from 2022.

What had started as ​"just kids daydreaming about being good at something that was really fun" has turned the state into a serious pipeline of skiers on the international stage.

How that happened is ​Mavericks' focus. Through interviews with the forbears of the region's ski scene and those who would carry the its flag across the globe, the film offers a warm-spirited love letter to the Montana's homegrown athletes.

The rise of the skiers came from serious grit and determination from a group of enthusiasts who lacked resources that larger, more well-known ski areas such as New England or Colorado might have provided. Stories of scraping by and taking a devoted 'scrappy' route to find training opportunities fill Mavericks, and provide context to a kindred spirit Montanans share.

Eric Bergoust's gold medal at Nagano 1998's aerials competition was the breakthrough for the Montana-born crew, a catalyst for the state to be seen as a wellspring of future elite athletes that would soon populate Olympic, X Games, and World Cup rosters. Double-Olympians Maggie Voisin, Heather McPhie, and Darian Stevens, Vancouver 2010 medalist Bryon Wilson, and triple-Olympian (and Bryon's brother) Bradley Wilson are just some of the featured athletes offering perspective.

​I'm sorry it took me almost two years (!) to become aware of Mavericks...released just ahead of Beijing 2022, it would certainly have been a good watch to learn more about Team USA members like Voisin, Stevens, and Bradley Wilson. But I'm glad I found it eventually, as the charm of the story still holds true. Mavericks also serves as a reminder of the breadth of origins of U.S. Olympians, and the impact inspiration and hard work can have on a community. Bravo!