Documentary
91 minutes / 2012
Rating: 7/10

This is the amazing story of how a one-armed young man beats the odds to make it onto a Division 1 college basketball team. His disability alone would make Kevin Laue a “long shot” but then he also lost his dad at age 10. What the film celebrates is Laue’s determination, but what it also captures is the enormous hole left when a father is missing. So much of what Laue does and wants to do is an effort to make his late father proud.

Laue does have a father figure in the film, a fantastic high school coach in Patrick McKnight who was willing to just invest in the young man, and “put a foot in his butt” when Laue needed it. He also has a family that loves him, including a grandmother who calls him her “chickadee” and has to be in the running for his #1 fan.

Cautions

Language concerns would be a couple of f-bombs dropped by players and one “gosh.” We see Kevin in the shower, shot from the other side of the somewhat opaque glass door so we don’t see any details, but enough flesh-color to know he is naked.

While the trailer below makes this look like more of an explicitly Christian film than it is – the Laues’ trust in God only comes up in spots. And that’s maybe the more notable caution: while the film highlights how important a father can be for a son, God isn’t portrayed as nearly as significant. That might be more a matter of the filmmaker’s editing decisions than the family’s convictions, but either way it is an opportunity for a great discussion question for our kids: who do you think is being portrayed as the “god” – the most important person or thing? – in this film? Is it dads or God?

Conclusion

This is a fascinating film about a young man who is admirable in many ways, and yet not so idealized here that he becomes fake and distant. It’s a film that any sports fans and both parents and teens will enjoy. Check out the trailer below, and watch it for free here.