You have to love basketball to see this film, because there is an abundance of archive footage of Stephen Curry playing from his first shot as a child to now. There is so much video of Curry on the court as a short, scrawny kid running all over the court, which takes up a major part of the film. It seems a little repetitive. We wanted to see more personality on and off the court during those tender years, including his likes and dislikes. We were also looking for more reveals about the person, not just the basketball player. This film is long for a documentary with so many highlights. It may have been paced better at an hour and a half.
Director Peter Nicks documents Curry’s love for the game, support from his parents and his resilience and determination resulting in becoming the best pure shooter in basketball history. He now holds the record as the greatest 3 point shooter, ever. There is plenty of his Mom cheering from the stands and hugging him after each win, along with his Dad, former NBA player, Dell Curry, encouraging him as a young boy. There is more about his Mom always in the stands as the ultimate cheerleader. But he always had his mother’s dream hanging over his head.
The real hero of in the story of his success is Davidson College coach, Bob McKillop, who gave him his first big chance to play college basketball and a place to belong, learn, grow and excel. The Davidson Cinderella NCAA Tournament run provides the best drama in the film. And the affection Curry and McKillop have for each other remains to this day.
Although only 6 ‘ 2”, Curry was considered too short for an NBA player, but that didn’t stop him. When he finally got drafted by the Golden State Warriors, he was reticent about leaving Davidson and delaying the promise he made to his Mom to get a college degree. That was something that hung over his head for years. And his quest for a diploma is well covered.
There is just too much footage of his trials and tribulations showing him as a frustrated young kid trying to get playtime with the bigger kids. The point is made without having to see it over and over again. But we also get to see how much effort he puts in to keep up with the grueling pace of the NBA playing season. His workouts are unbelievably hard and his ability to multi-task while dribbling a basketball is amazing.
This film is really light on uncovering much about him as a person emotionally. We see him at home with the kids very sparingly and his wife is never interviewed about what it’s like to be married to this sports giant who is constantly on the move. We wanted to see him engaged with his teammates more as well as with his wife and kids, to get a sense of who he is off the court.
We wanted to see Curry show the kind of emotion in this film that we saw watching his over-the-top exuberance for the hole in one he scored at a recent Celebrity golf tournament. While we appreciate that he’s a private guy,Curry and director Nicks only pull back the curtain so much. We would have liked to see a more personal portrait, instead of so many basketball highlights and occasional scenes at home. But still worth a watch.
Apple TV+. 1 hour and 50 minutes. PG-13
