Quad Rugby, Quad Life

Murderball, the original name for the sport now called “Quad Rugby,” is supposedly the subject of the film, but is really a means to examine the lives of its players, all of whom are quadriplegics.  Shot in shaky digital and often scored to a pounding soundtrack (Ministry has two entries here), the film’s association with MTV makes itself known early on, but this is no episode of The Real World.  Armored wheelchairs are crunched, men make diving faceplants, and emotions run high in a sport played not for money or for fame, but purely to win.

Winning doesn’t come easy, either.  The game is played on a basketball court with goals to be crossed at each end.  Each team has to field players based on their point ratings (higher point ratings mean greater use of limbs) and get the ball past the other team to score.  They don’t tackle each other, but the use of these modified chairs means that some of the crashes that ensue in an effort to stop the other team are brutal.  As the film follows Team USA in the Paralympics, we see some of the best players in the world as well as the most intense quad rugby rivalry between a former star player for Team USA (Joe Soares) moved on to coach team Canada after being cut.  Despite the rivalry with Canada, everyone wants to beat the Americans because they keep winning.

The intimate details of players’ private lives that we’re privy to, however, make the documentary more about people we consider disabled than about the sport itself.  How they were injured, how they learned to deal with it, and adjustments made to everyday life feature prominently.  Mark Zupan, one of USA’s best players, was thrown out of a pickup truck driven by a drunken friend who felt terrible after the accident, and the coming together of both men is an important part of the overall narrative.  Likewise, the ultra-competitive Soares is raising a son who is talented musically and academically, but uninterested in athletics.

When Soares refers to his players on team Canada as a family, it almost seems too obvious to say.  The bond shared between these players in terms of common experience shows in all their interactions, and is especially important as Zupan demonstrates the game for the recently injured Keith Cavill.  The difficulty, we’re told, is in the beginning when a person must learn how to live without the complete use of their limbs, and being introduced to this sport may be the one positive thing to come out of such an experience.

While Murderball goes less into the specifics of the game, it goes far into the specifics of living as a quadriplegic, and that doesn’t mean helplessness or hopelessness.  “It’s so good to see you out,” says one player, mimicking an attitude he commonly encounters.  He continues, “Where else would I be?”

Film Rating: êêêê  (out of 5)