High Flying Bird (2019)

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Stars: André Holland, Melvin Gregg, Eddie Tavares
Runtime: 90 minutes

Synopsis: A sports agent pitches a rookie basketball client on an intriguing and controversial business opportunity during a lockout.

Performances: 4/5
Screenplay: 3/5
Editing: 4/5
Cinematography: 2/5
Score/Soundtrack: 3/5

Verdict: Steven Soderbergh is an ambitious filmmaker to say the least. In his latest movie "High Flying Bird", available on Netflix, he delves into the world of professional Basketball and manages to make a sport movie without any sports in it. Instead, Soderbergh focuses on the behind the scenes of the game, making its business side the centre of attention.

While I do enjoy the occasional Basketball game, I don't really consider myself a fan of the sport. I don't follow the NBA at all, and know nothing about agents or transfers. And this is probably why I couldn't enjoy "High Flying Bird" that much. Starring André Holland and Zazie Beetz, the film relies on the fast paced, witty dialogue between the characters to function. Dialogue I unfortunately either didn't entirely understand or didn't really care about.

Much like his previous project "Unsane", Soderbergh decided to shoot the entire movie with an iPhone. And much like in "Unsane", I couldn't figure out the reason behind. it. Sure, it's probably cheaper, but I can't understand that decision when telling that particular story. It really does make the movie look cheap in certain places, which doesn't entirely fit with its overall tone.

"High Flying Bird" may appeal to a certain demographic, mainly composed of fans of the NBA, and I'd certainly recommend the movie to them. I, on the other hand, do not belong in that category of people, and couldn't quite enjoy the film as much as someone in that demographic probably would.

FINAL GRADE: 5/10