Lots of people will find lots to like in “Champions,” a seriocomic story of how young men and one woman, Special Olympics basketball hopefuls with intellectual and developmental disabilities, turn their arrogant coach, played by Woody Harrelson into less of a jerk.
The setup works in roughly equivalent fashion to how “Green Book,” directed by Bobby’s brother Peter Farrelly, handled racial prejudice and loutish white male redemption in the civil rights era. With both movies, you may find yourself thinking: Are we really focusing on the most interesting character here? Or simply the one who could get the thing greenlit for production?
The film remakes the popular and super-slick 2018 Spanish comedy-drama “Campeones.” (Another remake, this one to be made and set in India, is in the works.) Stuck in Des Moines, Iowa, after being fired off his semipro assistant coaching gig and sentenced to 90 days of community service after a DUI, Marcus (Harrelson) reluctantly takes over a ragtag community center team’s fortunes.
