High Flying Bird (2019)

Shot on an iPhone and working off a killer script by Tarell Alvin McCraney, this is vintage Soderbergh carried by André Holland. It soars as a brilliant Netflix basketball drama.

The critic finds the film a welcome and unexpected dazzling examination of issues in pro basketball, with immediacy, drama, and smart dialogue. The savvy McCraney script, with its iconoclastic ideas and fast-paced dialogue, is singled out for praise alongside Holland's energetic performance.

The critic praises the film's understated brilliance and its examination of race, sport, and money in America, highlighting Soderbergh's radical methods and the script's avoidance of sentimentality. It singles out the insightful portrayal of the sports agent's moral integrity and the innovative iPhone shooting style.

Soderbergh's film considers modern media as a vehicle for revising white patriarchal capitalism while acknowledging the allure of the game rather than changing its rules. It dramatizes a scheme to upend the distribution of sporting events and give more power to players amid endemic racism.

The critic calls the film a sharp and layered drama about basketball and power dynamics in the NBA, another slam dunk for Soderbergh and Netflix. It singles out the bold take on race and sport, passed between the director and screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney, for praise.

The review calls the film a boldly creative D.I.Y. look at the business and politics of sports, particularly race and economic inequalities. It highlights Soderbergh's low-budget freedoms and the script's focus on changing the system through a sports agent's scheme.

Soderbergh imagines a future without owners in this low-fi Netflix drama about an agent trying to return power to players during an NBA lockout. It pulls off a satisfying heist-like structure while acknowledging that the underlying problem of power distribution remains unsolved.

The film is a sharp-minded look at high-stakes action in the professional basketball world during a lockout. It provides a tart behind-the-scenes look at the financial side of sports and the potential for labor unrest.

The review describes the film as a timely, mesmerizingly talky drama about race and power in sports, with a subversive view of money and stratification. The sharp, rapid-fire dialogue and immediacy from its iPhone production are highlighted, though it notes less success with characters.

The film is compelling despite narrative flaws and unshapely storytelling, with a mournful tone marinated in righteous resentment about exploitation in the NBA. It excels in juicy dialogue scenes and performances but has too little basketball and leaves some plot elements unclear.

The review notes that the film offers a crash course in NBA lockouts and weaves a talky story with strong performances, while commenting on the iPhone cinematography that some may find flat, and the metatextual Netflix references.

The critic finds it an oddly unconvincing exercise despite Soderbergh's cerebral cool, noting it's a stagy examination that lacks insightful commentary on the business of basketball, though pertinent issues on race and class are present.

Soderbergh uses the NBA lockout to explore basketball players as gig-economy laborers and content creators in a streaming-dominated industry, and as Black workers navigating white-controlled power structures. The film employs an iPhone-shot aesthetic and heist-like structure to focus on the behind-the-scenes business of the sport.

The critic praises the film as an exhilarating and argumentative caper that uses basketball to explore labor, capital, and racial injustice in a feisty, twisty fable. Soderbergh's iPhone-shot craft and McCraney's densely layered script are singled out for their ingenuity and intellectual demand.

The critic describes the wordy, witty basketball drama as a different beast from Soderbergh's previous iPhone film, with a classy cast and anger at the sport becoming a business. It singles out the moral heartbeat of the piece for praise while noting some stagey speech and baffling politics.

The critic highlights the film's layered self-reflexivity about the basketball and movie businesses, lauding McCraney's sharp, musical dialogue and Soderbergh's restrained direction that emphasizes distance and focus. It singles out André Holland's star-making performance and the thematic depth on labor, race, and disrupting systems as particularly strong.

The critic commends the film's sharp focus on exploitation and control in the sports industry, calling out the effective use of real player interviews and Holland's rhythmic delivery of McCraney's dialogue. They note Soderbergh's iPhone approach creates intimacy while underscoring themes of autonomy, concluding it is one of Netflix's best with only minor quibbles about the distributor portrayal.

Soderbergh delivers a sharp, witty NBA drama centered on a sports agent navigating a league lockout and broader issues of power and race in sports. The critic highlights the film's engaging script, strong performances, and joyful execution as a standout effort.

Soderbergh delivers an unglamorous, street-level sports drama about an agent navigating an NBA lockout, using iPhone cinematography to highlight players' rage against corporate owners and the business side of the game. The film is demanding and jargon-heavy, with occasional stilted moments, but offers a distinctive, seize-the-means perspective unlike typical sports movies.

The critic praises the film's dense, captivating ideas about the business of sport, race, and power imbalances in the NBA during a lockout, comparing it favorably to a potential Soderbergh-directed Moneyball. They note it remains fascinating despite feeling constrained by its iPhone shooting style and limited scope, wishing it had more room to explore its themes.