‘Unstoppable’: Toronto Review

Dir: William Goldenberg. US. 2024. 115mins

Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome) has just won the national high school wrestling championship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. If he were any other person, the victory would guarantee him a full-ride scholarship with the Iowa Hawkeyes’ top-ranked wrestling programme. But Anthony was born with one leg. So he is back at square one, as a walk-on with an Arizona State University programme led by Shawn Charles (Don Cheadle) – who becomes his rock as he defends his supportive mother (Jennifer Lopez) against his abusive stepfather Rick (Bobby Cannavale). Editor William Goldenberg’s directorial debut is an affecting, by-the-numbers inspirational sports film, whose ripped from the headlines drama remains grounded.

 While there is nothing surprising in Unstoppable, the film works as a tightly crafted take on the formula

Goldenberg won an editing Oscar for Argo (and was nominated for The Insider, Seabiscuit, Zero Dark Thirty and The Imitation Game) so it’s fitting that this adaptation of Robles’ memoir is supported by Argo’s director, Ben Affleck, who produces here alongside Matt Damon. After premiering as a Gala Screening at Toronto, where it garnered early awards buzz for Jerome (Moonlight), Amazon MGM Studios plans to position the throwback mid-budget drama in the awards window with a December release. 

Unstoppable, however, does take time to gain speed. We watch as Anthony, along with his high school coach (Michael Peña), pushes to gain attention from top-flight programmes like the University of Iowa, only to see them pass. Despite the disappointment, Anthony still continues to train while also working night shifts washing private jets. His situation isn’t improved by his noxious stepfather Rick, a physically and verbally abusive prison guard who seems to hope that his stepson fails. The only solace Anthony finds is with his mother Judy – she believes he is capable of anything, supporting him even when he passes up a full-ride scholarship with Philadelphia’s Drexel University to pursue a longshot opportunity with ASU. 

The volatile situation leads to Anthony confronting other hardships in the film’s overloaded first hour: he loses fights, watches his stepfather assault his mother and abandon the family, nearly loses his childhood home due to foreclosure, and contends with ASU’s wrestling programme being scrapped in his sophomore year. Through workouts that bloody his hands and setbacks that test his will, Anthony and his mother are committed to greatness. Judy is also learning to become a independent single mother and Lopez pulls from a deep well of sadness that never tips over into maudlin. 

By the second hour, the film’s basic building blocks hold firm. Training montages speed viewers to Anthony’s junior year, where he discovers a rival in Iowa’s national championship, Matt McDonough (Johnni DiJulius). A year of battling to the NCAA finals and a stunning loss to McDonough takes us to Anthony’s senior year, culminating in a rematch with McDonough. During that time, Cheadle provides a warm presence as Anthony’s philosophical college coach. “Know that I see you now,” Charles says to Jerome with acuity. Jerome later returns the volley with a gut-punch monologue that speaks to the character’s own self-doubt — reminding viewers why Jerome is among the best, most soulful actors of his generation.

While there is nothing surprising in Unstoppable, the film works as a tightly crafted take on the formula. The championship rematch between McDonough and Anthony, for instance, relies heavily on Goldenberg’s editing background, tossing between the grueling rounds with agility. The film’s DoP Salvatore Totino also makes some bold choices, leaning into the inherent intimacy of the sport by shooting the dueling wrestlers from underneath, through a glass floor. The result puts the viewer as close to the physicality as the beads of sweat on their back.