‘Unstoppable’ Review: An Inspirational Story That Doesn’t Quite Reach The Highs

It’s clear why MGM and Artist Equity—Matt Damon & Ben Affleck’s production company were interested in bringing Anthony Robles’ story to the big screen. There’s so much to work with, but the movie itself feels like the most generic version of that story imaginable. Read our Unstoppable review.

This review of Unstoppable was made possible by screeners courtesy of Prime Video.

Unstoppable tells the story of Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome), a top high school wrestler who only has one leg. He earns a scholarship from Drexel University, but instead opts to be a walk-on at Arizona State University to stay closer to his family. The film follows the journey of Anthony’s college years and his struggle to make it from a walk-on to a real NCAA championship contender while balancing the struggles of his home life.

The real-life story of Anthony Robles is awe-inspiring, to say the least. I wasn’t familiar with him prior to this film, but what Anthony has accomplished in wrestling is no easy task in the world of sports. Getting to the level he did while only having one leg is absolutely incredible. There are so few wrestlers in general who can say they have accomplishments that would even compare to his.

A movie about the story of Anthony’s journey should be a slam dunk, but instead, Unstoppable goes up for a lay-up and blows it. The story lends itself perfectly to something fantastic being made, but it doesn’t feel fulfilled at all.

The script itself just doesn’t quite hit the mark. In many ways, it is the most generic version of the story you could make. The interactions between characters rarely ever feel real or genuine. There are far too many random monologues in random spots of the film that take away from that realism.

Rich (Bobby Cannavale), especially, feels like a caricature of the deadbeat/abusive stepfather. Cannavale tries his hardest to sell it, but the script just doesn’t work in his favor. For the most part, the film wastes its talented cast. Michael Peña and Don Cheadle aren’t used to the best of their abilities, even if the casting does feel right.

The movie is directed by Academy Award-winning editor William Goldenberg in his first foray into directing feature films. There are moments where his direction works, particularly during the wrestling scenes, but outside of that, the film feels very amateurish.

The wrestling was the highlight of the film. The film opens with a really solid wrestling scene and ends with an even better one. While it’s hard to compare it to the thrill of boxing, it’s clear there was a Rocky/ Creed approach to the film that works at times, but it doesn’t give the film its own sense of identity. It feels like the movie is trying to do a version of those scenes instead of it occurring naturally.

Jharrel Jerome gives a really solid performance as the lead, but the lack of real characterization for Anthony just doesn’t help him. Anthony should be an easy character to bring to life. It’s really easy to root for the character, and I found myself doing so quite frequently while he was wrestling, but as the lead of a drama film that runs two hours? He feels bland, and not in a way that informs the character or feels real.

There are no genuine moments that truly build up the character. Not a single interpersonal character relationship in this film has a realistic feel. The world of Anthony’s life doesn’t feel lived in. Even when time passes, it doesn’t feel like the characters and their relationships with each other are progressing.

Having a character you can root for is almost always the key in a sports film, but almost all of the great ones excel at building those. Because Anthony’s story is incredibly easy to root for, the film forgoes that building, resulting in trying to use why we root for Anthony as a crutch instead of building on top of it.

Unstoppable stars Jharrel Jerome, Jennifer Lopez, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, and Don Cheadle. The film will be released on Prime Video on January 16th.

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