Anthony Robles’ story is one that I found fascinating on multiple levels. Born with only one leg, he did not let that stop him from working his way up to being one of the best collegiate wrestlers in the country and even influenced his career path afterward. With a mother that was there for him each step of the way despite a number of roadblocks they both faced along the way, his book Unstoppable: From Underdog to Undefeated has been adapted into the directorial debut of William Goldenberg (who is also an accomplished editor on films like Air and Detroit), shortening the title to Unstoppable.
With Robles himself playing his own stunt double, Moonlight breakout Jharrel Jerome plays Robles starting at the end of his high school career as his coach (Michael Peña) encourages him to go to the school that has offered him a full-ride scholarship while Robles himself has eyes on Arizona State University. The problem there is when Coach Shawn Charles (Don Cheadle) tells him that there is no scholarship money for him and he must make the team the hard way as a “walk-on”. Holding an outside job cleaning airplanes with his mentor in Eddie (Mykelti Williamson) while also trying his best to keep his mother (Jennifer Lopez) and his siblings safe from an abusive relationship with his stepfather (Bobby Canavale), Anthony has the odds against him… but that just fuels him more.
While this really at its core is a story that has been told in many ways, I still found myself engaged with Unstoppable, rooting for Robles to succeed. In looking at the trivia, there ARE some liberties taken with his journey to enhance the drama, but not to the point where it took me out of the story in the way that Friday Night Lights did. Jerome is convincing as Robles and really is the standout here with Lopez just kind of doing what she does on screen. The upside to the latter of those two statements is that she does dial it back a bit, understanding that her character is a supporting character that while her story is crucial to understanding Anthony’s big picture, it’s still HIS big picture. Cheadle is also great (as he usually is), taking the coach/positive role model to the level of “that guy we all wish we had in our lives at that age”.
Goldenberg shoots this tale in the way that would not let me forget that this was a story of heroism: there no “epic” shots or drone-fests here. What he presents is a down-to-earth visual style that brings the film to the level of the audience in a way that is fully appropriate for the tone he is setting. I truly am looking forward to where his directing career goes from him; he should be one to watch.
While there is nothing spectacular about Unstoppable, that may really be the point of this story. This presentation (and others like it) should be about the journey of a young man who looked the odds straight in the face and told them to go pound sand instead of the trend in recent years to focus on the sports side of it. Sure, the wrestling is the catalyst for everything else, but once that is established, the focus is right where it needs to be: on Robles himself. From the young man that just wanted to follow his passion to a man who has done a number of great things to give back, this is a great story to watch with the family to remember that hope CAN still spring eternal.
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