Part of the Action

The movie Murderball, was an action packed, informational documentary. While I would not recommend it as a family film, I would recommend it for paraplegics, people who are interested in wheelchairs, people who like sports, and thrill seekers. When I watched this movie myself, I felt inspired and motivated. It taught me to not feel as sorry for people in wheelchairs and they are real people to who don’t constantly need help do daily activities.

Murderball is a documentary which follows two and a half years in the lives of intensely competitive wheelchair rugby players. They slam into each other, spew obscenities, and strive to score points with passion. The sport, also known as Quad Rugby, and Murderball, is an action packed hard hitting sport, and every team’s goal is to win the Paralympics which is held at the same location as the normal Olympics, just a week later. This movie would be a great movie to see for a paraplegic. I feel they would watch it and receive an auspicious feeling, especially if their accident has just taken place.

Murderball disproves every clichéd stereotype we are brainwashed with about the handicapped. The Quad Ruby players are mostly young men in their 20s and 30s, and other than being paralyzed they are just like every other guy you know and hang out with. They are pranksters, they laugh, are charmers, and later they make their moves by approaching the prettiest girls in the bar. Although asked regularly if they are able to have sex, the answer always stuns people and indeed, yes, they can.

The personal relationships between the players and their families are especially memorable. Mark, with a goatee and a large amount of tattoos has a fairly intimidating quality. He is paralyzed from a drunk driving accident caused by his best friend, Chris Igoe. They both want to rekindle their friendship but are too nervous to make the first move. Another character, Joe Soares, disabled from polio in childhood, is a family man, with a supportive wife and sensitive son, Robert. While Sarah Palin might view him as a maverick, he is a total jerk, who used to play for team USA. One year he didn’t make the team so he betrayed his country and decided to coach team Canada, and sometimes he puts his family second to his new country, but when he has a heart attack, he is forced to re-evaluate his priorities. Keith Cavill was an extreme sports junkie and he did motor cross which is what unfortunately led to his accident. “What was once normal will never be the same, and that’s just setting in right now,” he says wistfully when coming home for the first time after his accident. When he meets the Quad Rugby team at the hospital and learns the sport can give him a second chance at athletic dreams, a future Team USA player is born.

The people in Murderball are imperfect, which makes them all the more relatable. These are not the figures painted to us movie-of-the-week specials. They are a funny, intelligent, and lively bunch of men, with the same flaws that affect the rest of us. While rugby is heavily focused on in the film, above all else it’s about people overcoming great odds to embrace the vitality of life.

This movie definitely touched me in a way I cannot describe in words. It was fun to watch but also I was able to take a lot away from the experience. In the rivalry games between the United States and Canada, I felt like I was sitting in a chair myself getting knocked around by the opposing players and like I was part of the action.