Redemption Team: Punching in the chest is meaningless

Image credits: IOC / John Huet / Netflix

recovery team is a documentary made for the American viewer who wants to remember the success of American basketball in the 2008 Olympics. Then the Yankees – with a team made up of, among others, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony – were able to take revenge after they settled on Bronze medal in 2004. However, this gain in itself is not special. Outsiders will say: The USA has always been the best team by far, especially since professional basketball players have been allowed to play since 1992. The Redeem team is also an indication: in ’92, the Dream Team reigned, led by Michael Jordan.

Still, director John Weinbach – better known as Producer the last dance (2020) – To explain how special all those people who were able to get together are. For example, a new coach is hired – Mike Krzyzewski who has had success in so-called “college basketball” for years – and the pros are told by a true veteran that they “could play basketball” because they “gave their lives for them”. country’. This is patriotic nonsense, but it seems to work – Chris Bosch watches the speech in astonishment. However, the message is: only boys have to play better together.

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So Weinbach’s films are basically a series of superlatives: yes, things didn’t go well at first, then it was still illegal, but gradually he started playing ball more often. You can also call that a kind of rehashing of history. As if the movie were a report, Weinbach shows what happened back then – now and then basketball players look back at the moment, but they don’t have much to say. More than just honoring a team that statistically should have won in the first place recovery team then no.