Friday, August 27, 2010

Jordan Rides the Bus

Jordan Rides the Bus tells a fascinating story and is made by a great sports film director, but perhaps takes the wrong approach in telling it. After Michael Jordan lead the Bulls to another championship in 1993, his father was murdered along a seemingly peaceful North Carolina highway. This lead to Jordan’s early retirement from basketball, and his entry into baseball—a move that generated much attention, both positive and negative. The film takes the approach that it was his right and that he was even courageous and self-sacrificing in making such a move, but I think that the film would have worked much better from an objective standpoint. Still it is a great story, and Ron Shelton (Bull Durham, Cobb, White Men Can’t Jump) knows how to piece together a sports film.
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