Movie Rating Scale
| Grade: A+ |
4 Stars |
| Grade: A to A- |
3.5 Stars |
| Grade: B+ to B |
3 Stars |
| Grade: B- to C+ |
2.5 Stars |
| Grade: C to C- |
2 Stars |
| Grade: D+ |
1.5 Stars |
| Grade: D |
1 Star |
| Grade: D- |
.5 Stars |
| Grade: F |
0 Stars |
|
 |
"Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals" Review |
 |
|
|
|
CONCEIVED AND DIRECTED BY
Ezra Edelman
MPAA RATING
TV-MA
RUNNING TIME
90 Mins.
DVD EXTRAS
Amazingly, none
DISTRIBUTED BY
HBO Films
RETURN TO "M" ARCHIVE
|
|
Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird were bitter rivals on the court, a rivalry that grew out of their meeting in the 1979 NCAA Championship game won by Johnson's Michigan State Spartans over Bird's Indiana State Sycamores. Johnson would be drafted first in the 1980 draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, while Bird would go to the Boston Celtics at the #3 spot.
The rivalry went back and forth for years...Bird captured "Rookie of the Year" in 1980, while Johnson's Lakers won the NBA Championship and Johnson himself was named NBA Finals MVP. The Celtics took the championship in 1981, the Lakers took it back in 1982. The Celtics would win again in 1984, while the Lakers would grab the title in both 1985 and 1987.
And so on and so on.
"Magic" was a showman with a wide grin and a love of the limelight, while Bird was from the small town of French Lick, Indiana and seemed to enjoy nothing more than slipping out the side door and avoiding the limelight. Ultimately, the careers of both men were cut short...Magic by his diagnosis with HIV and Bird by a devastating back injury resulting from his relentlessly physical play.
This HBO Films documentary, now available on DVD, follows the two men from the early days of their rivalry up through the present day friendship that seemed to get birthed out of an almost innate understanding each of the men had for one another. When Johnson was diagnosed with HIV, Bird displayed unwavering support and the two men gained an even deeper bond after their experiences of playing with one another during the Olympics in Barcelona.
Director Ezra Edelman doesn't flinch when examining the racial undertones of Bird's success, a success that often resulted in the player being known as "the great white hope" in a league that was becoming increasingly filled with black players. As one might expect, Edelman captures a garden variety of interviews ranging from sportscasters such as Steve Springer and Charlies Pierce to peers such as Kevin McHale, Cedric Maxwell, Michael Cooper and coach Pat Riley. A few celeb interviews are thrown in, but the emphasis here is squarely on Magic and Bird and both men participated fully in this original doc.
At 90 minutes, Magic & Bird moves along at a nice clip but it is extremely disappointing that Edelman couldn't (or didn't) add any extras onto the release for home video given the wealth of publicly accessible material available on both men. Fans of the NBA and connoisseurs of this legendary rivalry, however, would do well to add this well made doc to the home video collection.
© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
|
| |
