by Christian Grullon, Contributing Writer
Writer/director Martin Guigui has his heart in the right place with his new biopic, Sweetwater. This film is based on Nathaniel “Sweetwater” Clifton, who broke the color line to become the first African-American to sign with an NBA team.
Sweetwater starts in 1990, when a basketball beat writer (Jim Caviezel) takes a cab while listening to Michael Jordan dominate a game. He creates a conversation with the taxi driver about the game of basketball. The driver even compliments the journalist for his knowledge of the game. You can only see the driver’s eyes, but it is easy to tell that Nathaniel became a taxi driver after his eight-year stint in the NBA.
The movie then fades into 1949 New York City. The Harlem Globetrotters are in a tight game against the world-champion Minneapolis Lakers, and Sweetwater is the clear MVP. But in this scene, the lighting is choppy, and the pacing is terrible.
Guigui then paints a grey picture of Nathaniel’s childhood, when he picks cotton so hard that he pierces his hands. Most lines do not deliver, although some pack a powerful punch. You can see the clear prejudices, though: Eric Roberts has a minor appearance playing a bigot who threatens the Globetrotters with a shotgun if they use his gas; a hotel owner refuses to rent a room for the Globetrotters; and the NBA owner shouts, “It is not a Negro League, and it never will be during a meeting.” At times, Nathaniel stares at his hands intensely as he seeks help. That sequence seems to drive home Nat’s feeling of being the “other.”
You can sense that New York Knickerbockers owner Ned Irish (Cary Elwes) and Joe Lapchick (Jeremy Piven) are disgusted by the evident racism in the movie. While their intentions are good, they often go from pro-integrationist to gussy capitalism. It concludes with Nathaniel’s debut, but that game has no decency. The refs call openly racist fouls against him, only to flip and make calls for Nat. It would have made sense for Guigui to portray Sweetwater as human. Instead, he shows Nat as a mythical superhero-like individual, marred by the dark cloud of otherness.
At a crucial point during his debut as a Knick, Nathaniel says, “My game does not belong here.” Even the racist cop experiences a redemption arc, congratulating Nat with, “good game.” The film does a good job highlighting the racism Sweetwater faced in becoming an NBA player, and how things were back then. Still, its underdeveloped lines, a mythical portrayal of Sweetwater, and inconsistent pacing are too glaring to ignore.
Score: 4/10
Sweetwater is currently playing in theaters
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