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A documentary about quadriplegics that do not let themselves be confined to their wheelchairs. Instead they hop into Mad Max-style, two-wheel battering rams and knock each other around in a para-olympic version of rugby. The depictions of the sport itself is not as exciting as I thought it would be. Beyond the initial spectacle of watching these armored wheelchairs slamming into each other it really is just watching a bunch of guys rolling around a court tossing a ball around. But it's the peek into the lives of these men that makes the movie. They are tough athletes of the Extreme Sport variety, some of them likeable in their attitude on life and some not so much so.

In one scene during a recruit drive at a hospital, the star player, Mark Zupan, is fielding questions from young wheelchair bound men and one worried mom asks why they don't wear helmets to which Zupan has no definitive answer. As reckless as the sport may seem physically you see when victory is on the line how important it is for them on an acutely emotional and maybe even spiritual level.

Posted at December 19, 2005 03:26 PM

I thought murderball was very good as well. I thought it was telling when two of Zupan's friends mentioned that his aggressiveness, anger, and drive have always been present, and in no way resulted from his accident.

I see you are reading A Million Little Pieces by J. Frey. What do you think of it? I thought it was, how to say this? A hugely overblown and self-centered rant.

Posted by: brent at December 20, 2005 05:14 PM