Game Face (DIR. Michiel Thomas)
By: Addison Wylie
Game Face presents honest opinions and interviews from athletes who feel weighted by blanketed discrimination about their performance based on their personal lifestyle and sexuality. Determined, the jocks rise against the odds, and show their peers and LGBTQ audiences that they’re worthy contenders – not just in their sport, but in society.
Michiel Thomas’ film follows two underdogs: transgener MMA fighter Fallon Fox and Terrence Clemens, an openly gay College basketball player. Other than being athletes facing unfair judgement, Fox and Clemens prove themselves to be role models by always taking the high road. Clemens’ criminal past gave him a wake-up call to self-improve, and Fox’s spirit is as unbreakable as her physical build. Movie goers also receive a lot of in-game footage – maybe too much of it – that further compliment each player.
Thomas’ Game Face doesn’t go beyond being a typical recollection of inspiring underdog stories, but there’s plenty of influential content to appreciate. The doc’s glowing energetic flare also gives the film some visually attractive qualities. Game Face is not as strong as, let’s say, Linsanity (a documentary chronicling the racial prejudice Jeremy Lin experienced in the media and in the NBA), but Michiel Thomas’ doc is worth a look.
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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie
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