‘Unstoppable’ – Another Solid Entry in the Pantheon of Biographical Sports Drama

Several times I’ve tried explaining why I love sports media even though my general sentiment towards sports generally speaking is “it’s alright.” I suppose it really just comes down to the fact that sports media makes it really easy to follow and subsequently get invested in a specific narrative. You have an easy entry point, you have a very curated look at their training and their life, and you get a significantly more cinematic vantage for all of the major competitions.  So of course, when Prime announced that they were streaming a biographical sports drama about Anthony Robles, a wrestler who was born without a leg, I knew I was going to watch it and more likely enjoy it. And I can say that my expectations were met and even, at moments, exceeded.

In its opening scene, Unstoppable does something really clever and immediately starts with Anthony (Jharrel Jerome) at the high school state championships. His coach Bobby Williams (Michael Peña) telling him to focus on the match at hand and not the recruiters for University of Iowa watching the match. And Anthony, even missing a leg, manages to secure the win. Goldenberg knows how to generate hype. The wrestling match is easy to follow even as someone who hasn’t watched the sport in a decade or change, and Anthony’s skill is on display. It’s the type of match that would capstone a shonen arc, and it’s opening the movie. And even as Anthony takes his victory lap, this victory se…