Unstoppable (dir. William Goldenberg)
By: Adam Freed
Most people born with only one leg don’t have pronounced athletic ambitions. Most people are not Anthony Robles. Robles’ incredible true metamorphosis from disabled youth to 2011 NCAA National Wrestling Champion is chronicled in MGM / Amazon Studio’s upcoming release Unstoppable. Lifted by a star studded cast that includes Hollywood heavyweights Jennifer Lopez (Out of Sight), Michael Peña (American Hustle), Don Cheadle (Avengers: End Game) and Bobby Cannavale (MaXXXine), Unstoppable is a legitimate contender to become a contemporary sports film favorite. The surprising standout of the film is its star, Emmy Award winner Jharrel Jerome, who depicts Robles as a multidimensional character, a balance of athletic determination and familial obligation. The humble and kind exterior that the elite wrestler shares with the world is captured perfectly by Jerome, as is the tenacious competitor that bubbles beneath the surface.
The strength of the underdog sport biopic is that Unstoppable pays equal attention to Robles’ rocky home life as it does to his uphill battle on the wrestling mat. The William Goldenberg directed film pulls no punches as it shares the challenges Robles faces at the hands of a manipulative and dishonest stepfather (Cannavale). His mother Judy, captured in a layered and sensitive performance from Jennifer Lopez, works to establish the young wrestler's motivations outside of personal accomplishment. Some of the film's more emotionally relevant scenes involve presenting Robles’ physical challenges crosscut with a homelife infected with domestic abuse. Most sports biopics work in the inevitable direction of a single climax, while Unstoppable pits its main character in twin battles, both in pursuit of a championship but also in protection of his mother and siblings from his stepfather’s wrath.
Unstoppable stands a few inches taller than run-of-the-mill sports bios, as it treats the star wrestler’s relationship with his mother as a primary plot device rather than as an afterthought. The fact that Anthony Robles acted not only as a consultant on the film, but worked as Jharrel Jerome’s body double is quite impressive. There is an air of authenticity to Unstoppable, considering the man at the center of the story had his hands in every element of production. Director William Goldenberg strikes a welcome balance between leaning into the tropes of a sports bio and telling a unique story of a truly one of a kind individual.
Target Score: 7/10 Anthony Robles is one of the most unexpected athletic success stories in NCAA history. Unstoppable chronicles the inspirational wrestler overcoming a violent home and his physical disability in order to prove that nothing is impossible. Robles is captured wonderfully by Jharrel Jerome, a young actor set for stardom.
Unstoppable is included in Movie Archer’s coverage of the 60th Chicago International Film Festival.