DVD: Flint Star: The Motion Picture
Submitted by ChrisZ on Wed, 2007-03-28 06:47.
Keywords:
DVD Reviewed by ChrisZ
Starring: Various
In Flint, Michigan, basketball is a way of life.
In Flint Star we see the town’s historic love affair with the sport and why it has become the basketball Mecca of America. This two-hour documentary examines the stream of talent that oozes out of the town from its Elementary Schools through to the pinnacle of Professional Basketball leagues.
The film highlights how basketball has become an outlet for young African-American youths, enabling them to escape the dangers of drug dealing and gang banging.
Flint Star is an informative film, which features amazing highlight reels and honest and revealing interviews. Interviewees include former NBA, CBA and NCAA athletes and coaches and Flint aficionados. However, whilst this was interesting I believe the film could have talked more about the economic and social problems that have made the town’s youth so heavily involved with basketball. At times, the film also replaces solid visual examples with narrow accounts from many people I have never heard of. I am hardly a basketball expert, but I would rather see some of these players in the flesh rather than hear a group of middle aged men talking about their favourite Flint ballers.
Despite its flaws, it is great to see a film about how young black males can elevate themselves from the darker parts of life in modern America. People from all walks of life can take something out of this film. The documentary could have been faster paced at times and even though the quality isn’t all that flash, the warmth that this documentary lets out is hard to ignore. Basketball is one of the world’s most popular sports, Flint Star adds more to this notion and one I am glad to support.
Big Thangs Productions Inc.
| By Chris Z |
