UNDEFEATED  3.2***

       The 2012 Oscar-award winning documentary "Undefeated" is a great example of  being at the right place at the right time. The movies focuses  on a failing high-school football team, the Manassas Tigers in located in Memphis, Tennessee., This football team  has never won a play-off game in the 110 years of its existence.  Manassas high-school is located in an all-black neighborhood suffering from extreme unemployment. Most of the black teens lack parental guidance, being raised by grandmothers or single parents  Almost everyone on the team has friends or close relatives convicted of various  of crimes.  Into this backdrop of  hopelessness comes Bill Courtney, a white successful businessman, whose true calling and passion is coaching football teams. Having already coached the Tigers for six years, the year of the documentary is supposed to be his best team ever. His key player is  O.C. Brown,  a 6’4” and 315 lbs powerful lineman who is as fast as a running back and plays both offense and defense.. Will the school be able to break the 110 year play-off jinx? To do so they must win their region to have a playoff chance.

Molded into the all too familiar underdog sports story of a team of misfits conquering the odds, it is easy to understand how it won the Oscar for Best Documentary The film spends a significant amount of time  showing the challenges and ordeals of Bill Courtney and his challenged young team, capturing a spectacular moment in time when the team turns from being the perennial loser into a dominant regional team.

The thing that makes all of this truly special, is that these are REAL PEOPLE. This is not some scripted Hollywood sports movie with the latest pop-culture stars. 'Undefeated' cuts deep into real emotions and isn't afraid to show the reality of life whether good or bad .. And as it moves along, you never truly know what will happen, giving it a unique, engaging quality, that is often missing in fictional movies... Full of heart, passion and a hopeful outlook, it is one of the better documentaries out there and one of the BEST football sports stories you’ll ever see.

It’s currently streaming on Netflix and could be found elsewhere. It’s worth finding and watching.

Clark