Yes, Champions is a little too long for its predictable plot, but it was also that length that allowed this genuine movie to sneak up and surprise me with how good it actually is.

The flick stars Woody Harrelson as a troubled (assistant) coach of lesser and lesser professional basketball teams who gets a DUI. To avoid jailtime, he takes a community service job coaching a special needs basketball team.

Yup… it’s a “coach trains a group of misfits” film… and it’s a pretty good one. It helps Woody is at his most personable and that the special needs kids are genuine and that the movie doesn’t make a point of just pointing the camera at them so we’ll laugh. There was that moment where I frowned at the film, wondering if it was mocking a bunch of actual special needs actors… but I think it proves it’s not (and I wasn’t surprised to see that Bobby Farrelly directed it). The movie is simply honest and earnest… and even a little genuinely funny.

The movie is also two hours long and feels very, very shaggy at times. Like maybe some room to edit down a good twenty minutes. But what they cut might risk losing the heart of the flick. Still, a few twists or nuance in the plot would have been appreciated.

You know how this movie goes as far as a coach-of-a-misfit-team movie goes. You won’t be surprised by the plot, but you might be surprised by how decent and enjoyable the movie is. I certainly went in with very (very) low expectations (as evidenced by how long it took me to venture forth to catch it in theaters) but it was worth it.

Score: 82