Unstoppable

Unstoppable is your typical by-the-numbers sports biopic underdog story that succeeds in what it sets out to do. Jharrel Jerome stars as Anthony Robles, a one-legged student athlete who through the first-hour of the movie struggles to make his dream of wrestling for a major college program a reality. If this wasn't a true story, Disney would likely have made something quite like it (albeit perhaps with less of the family drama).

The film is filled with struggles for Anthony to overcome including an abusive step-father (Bobby Cannavale), money troubles, not being recruited by the big schools, and finally making the team as a walk-on only to see the wrestling program cut because of lack of funding. Strap in, because it's going to be a Sisyphean struggle for this kid to live his dream.

The second hour of the film focuses more on Anthony's maturation and the struggles on the wrestling mat in his final two years at college, learning from defeat, training harder, and returning to the NCAA Championships to overcome his previous defeat against an unbeatable foe. As you would expect, Unstoppable hits the all expected notes including finding ways to make the final wrestling mat moments (which are not exactly the most cinematic sequences) tense at the end. There are no big surprises here, but Unstoppable is a solid entry into the genre focusing on themes of perseverance and overcoming the odds.

The supporting cast includes Jennifer Lopez as Anthony's mother, who gets her only mini-arcs involving leaving the abusive husband and fighting the bank for the family home, and Michael Peña and Don Cheadle as Anthony's high school and college coaches.

The focus on the family, and the struggles outside of wrestling, are a nice addition to the various training and match moments providing some drama outside of wrestling and the expected sports moments. There are aspects, however, that don't fair as well. None of Anthony's teammates get enough time to really know them, which leads to big sacrifice moment that doesn't feel necessarily earned, and his big nemesis for the wrestling finals feels a bit one-note Ivan Drago-ish monster to be slain. However, the film ends on a high with the big win followed with some nice moments providing more insight into Anthony's life, and that of his mother, after his wrestling career which seem like potentially interesting stories to tell as well.

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• Title: Unstoppable
• IMDb: link