Movie Review - High Flying Bird

Steven Soderbergh has made films that have attacked or critiqued certain industries, usually with characters who are within that industry and who want to survive, challenge or subvert that industry. Typically, Soderbergh's films are crime dramas or crime comedies where an industry will be the object of some scheme where the protagonist will attempt to gain something, usually money or power, and along the way, the scheme will expose flaws in whatever industry. Sometimes, it won't be an entire industry but instead a specific business. A prime example was Side Effects (2013), which had Soderbergh taking on the pharmaceutical industry. A surprising example was Magic Mike (2012), which had him taking on the business of male strippers.

This film takes Soderbergh into the world of sports, specifically basketball. The way he attacks or critiques basketball is by setting his story during what would be, if it were real, the fifth NBA lockout. The NBA lockouts that have occurred in real life are basically work stoppage. They weren't exactly strikes like the recent teacher strikes where you'll see actual teachers protesting with signs. The NBA lockout is simply a work stoppage when those involved with the NBA's collective bargaining agreement can't make a deal, so the basketball teams can't trade or train their players. Depending how long the lockout lasts, it could also mean that teams don't play games during the regular season.

Those involved with the bargaining agreement are the NBA's commissioner and the 30 team owners opposite the NBA Players Association. Typically, these lockouts are disputes over money, how much money the owners will give to the players. Various reasons determine how much money the players get, reasons that aren't just about players being greedy but also about giving less affluent teams the ability to be competitive. Despite all the sports lingo, the movie doesn't get too much in the weeds about the negotiations between those involved with the bargaining agreement, but there are a lot of nods to it and it is apart of the thrust of the momentum of this movie.

The screenplay by Tarell Alvin McCraney is very different from his Oscar-winning screenplay Moonlight (2016). McCraney is more of a playwright and this script feels like it was made for the stage than the screen. In other words, it's very dialogue driven, which isn't a criticism. It's merely a choice that needs more in order to sell it. As the movie began, it felt like McCraney trying to do Aaron Sorkin. The opening scene in fact felt like the opening of The Social Network (2010).

The dialogue is very witty, snappy and intense. As is Sorkin's preference, monologues fly by extremely fast. Everyone is terribly smart and always has incredible things to say. They do so or most do so with great aplomb. So much information is thrown out that requires second-viewing to fully absorb. There's some insight in the process, but I'm not sure the movie does enough to weigh it down with enough emotion to make us care. Sorkin's scripts normally do have that emotional weight. In The Social Network, there's a friendship that anchors it all. In Steve Jobs, there's the relationship with the man and his child. Sometimes, those emotional weights can or cannot work. This movie has the potential for emotional weight, but it oddly skips over it.

André Holland (Moonlight and 42) stars as Ray Burke, a sports agent in New York City. He's trying to manage one of his clients, a rookie basketball player who was just signed to the NBA but hasn't started playing yet. He can't start playing because there is a NBA lockout. Ray has to be tough on his rookie, so that he doesn't make any serious mistakes that could jeopardize his career. Ray learns that his corporate credit card has been cut-off. He also learns that he might be downsized at his agency. He therefore comes up with a plan to survive or rise beyond his current status.

One problem is that his plan isn't as exciting as plans orchestrated by characters in previous Soderbergh movies. It's certainly not as exciting as the plan in Side Effects. Even in a lesser Soderbergh film like Logan Lucky (2017), the plan there was still more exciting or interesting than the plan here. Why it's perhaps not as exciting is because there is no emotional weight to any of this. Yes, it's stated that Ray cares about the game and that's what he's fighting for but it just doesn't come across as more than an intellectual exercise than actual emotional depth. What it comes to stories about agents and their clients, HBO's Entourage had more depth than this film.

Also, the only thing Ray's plan accomplishes is the status quo. One assumes that he's going to be a disruptive force. He says he's going to be, but in actuality he's not. The movie is about a NBA lockout and that lockout can highlight a lot of issues about the sport that are both economic and social. Yet, the movie barely touches upon it. The only real moment is at the beginning when Ray points out that basketball is the sexiest sport and how that's important from a commercial and merchandising sense. There are also brief moments where comparisons to slavery are shot down, but the movie never wants to lean into those moments. Those moments are almost designed to be skipped over. There's also a question about Ray's cousin being a NBA player and possibly being gay, yet that too is skipped over. However, Ray's plan is to end the lockout and go back to the way things were before, which ultimately ends up being a boring resolution.

Melvin Gregg (American Vandal and Unreal) co-stars as Erick Scott, the rookie player who becomes unknowingly pulled into Ray's plan. He basically becomes a pawn for Ray to use. Ray promises Erick that they're going to change the game and do something disruptive, but it all ends up being a lie. Instead of the people involved in the bargaining agreement, Ray suggests circumventing all that and going to social media and Internet companies, rather than the usual channels of the NBA. Yet, none of that really comes to pass. It's all just a red herring to get back to the status quo. I'm not sure in that case what the point was and like other NBA lockouts, what his actions to end it did that wouldn't have happened by itself.

At first, this movie felt like it would be Jerry Maguire (1996) meets Amateur (2018). Those movies though ended up being a bit more subversive than this film, particularly Amateur. The movie references Harry Edwards, the author of the book The Revolt of the Black Athlete and the militancy to want to upend things or protest racism in sport. It comes through Holland's character, but it ends in the status quo. I suppose Ray's rise in position at the agency and his meeting with Edwards himself are meant to signify the status quo is not going to be long for this world, but who knows?

Rated TV-MA.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 30 mins.

Available on Netflix.