National Champions (2021)
Storyline
A star quarterback ignites a players’ strike hours before the biggest game of the year in order to fight for fair compensation, equality, and respect for the athletes who put their bodies and health on the line for their schools.
Directors
Writers
Cast
J.K. Simmons, David Koechner, Jeffrey Donovan, Tim Blake Nelson, Timothy Olyphant, Kristin Chenoweth, Tony Winters, Ned Yousef, Alexander Ludwig, Stephan James, Russell Wilson, Andrew Bachelor, Uzo Aduba, David Maldonado, French Montana, LilRel Howery, Calvin Williams, Reginald Robinson, Tre Hale, Sarah Fisher, Julian Horton, Suzette Lange, Mike Greenberg, Tedrick Martin, Karl-Anthony Towns, Jontavious Johnson, Mark Anthony Brooks, Therry Edouard, Malcolm Jenkins, Steven Van Tiflin, Jaden Begnaud
Trailer
Reviews
70
You don’t have to be into football to appreciate the high-stakes struggle in National Champions.
68
It’s a story ripped from at least a few years of headlines, and a subject about which there has been much debate. It may or may not come as a surprise, then, that a single two-hour film fails to sufficiently capture its complexities, even working from a compelling premise with a gifted cast.
67
It’s bleak and brutal, and Waugh’s cold tone (a definite throwback to Shot Caller) leaves no one with clean hands. But as a testament to the costs of a noble sacrifice in the face of institutional inhumanity, it’s as vital as any of his earlier films.
63
It’s a sports movie that’ll make you think, and its release — cleverly-timed for the weekend when the only college tilt is the rare one with real “student athletes,” the Army/Navy game — invites fans to put down the beer, get off those Internet sports gambling sites, and think about what’s going on.
63
National Champions remains effective as an ode to cynical realism but it’s uneven at best as a slice of drama.
