Written by Joan Gual and Joaquín Oristrell, this drama film showcases a young man with anger issues and a researcher with anxiety issues coming together to teach each other to live life easier and face their fears. With a runtime of 106 minutes, the movie hopes to delve deep into emotions and come out stronger in the end.
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The Champion Movie Cast
Dani Rovira, Swit Eme, Pablo Chiapella, Luis Fernández, Cintia García, Carlos Librado “Nene”
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The Champion Netflix Director
Carlos Therón
Dani Rovira and Swit Eme’s The Champion make for a sweet and emotional watch that is made ultimately forgettable with a dramatic and odd ending. Starting off on the wrong foot, football star Diego and lecturer Alex slowly, through their student-teacher relationship, find what is lacking in each other’s lives to figure themselves out better. There are emotions aplenty in the movie, with some sequences truly touching your heart in a profound way. But there’s not enough time dedicated to understanding the changes thoroughly to make us believe that there’s something shockingly different.
The Champion feels disjointed and forced most of the time, with Diego’s growth not given enough attention. It is neither a sports film nor is it much of a drama that goes in-depth into the problem to give us a deep solution. It’s somewhere in the middle and feels odd because at one point it touches on those emotional notes and in the next, it goes into an odd segue that takes away from the depth of that emotion.
The film makes us hope and dream but the solution to both of their problems seems very convenient and sudden, with one small thing changing the man with terrible anger problems into a mushy character with a thunderous backbone. It’s a little jarring and odd with things happening that take you out of the experience of being immersed in the lives of two broken men learning from each other.
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I had many questions about both of the characters’ issues that the film conveniently solves but audiences will be left scratching their heads because the backstories given to us feel half-baked and lacklustre. The performances are fine, with Dani Rovira as Alex being a very relatable anxious man with past trauma. But that doesn’t stop the movie from feeling sluggish and incomplete, especially in the end. The ending feels like the creators wanted things to look cool but were ultimately unsuccessful in nailing the landing. Some sequences in the third act are hilarious and cringy and oh-so melodramatic which doesn’t suit the tone of the film.
However, I admire its ability to showcase everything that happens in the background of superstardom. Diego’s struggle to find something or someone to hear him and his wishes will move your emotions and the terrible pressures of having millions of fans seems like a nightmare, a sentiment that the film delivers well.
The Champion Review: Final Thoughts
All in all, The Champion is a very generic drama with some emotions that ultimately become thoroughly predictable. The characters needed a little more depth and the problems and solutions needed more time to breathe in order to not feel so convenient and forced. This one is great for a one-time watch.
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