Note: Due to an editorial error, this review failed to make it into the print edition of The Stranger.

Murderball
dir. Dana Adam Shapiro and Henry-Alex Rubin

Taken in mass quantities, inspirational documentaries can be a strangely depressing experience, with an uneasy aftertaste that the copious goodwill generated by the subjects is often used to paper over any cinematic deficiencies. Despite the best of intentions, they can leave you feeling bad about feeling good.

The opening moments of the hugely entertaining Murderball, in which garbage-talking wheelchair rugby players beat the living hell out of each other while Ministry blares on the soundtrack, signals that, at the very least, this won’t be the same old genteel take on triumphing over adversity. On any level—crowd pleaser, sports film, lowbrow character study—this approach goes over like gangbusters.

Filmed over a period of two and a half years, co-directors Dana Adam Shapiro and Henry-Alex Rubin’s all-access camera follows the bitter rivalry between the U.S. and Canada’s quadriplegic rugby teams, culminating in the 2004 Athens Paralympics. In between tournaments, the backstory and day-to-day existence (including sex, via a hilariously square educational short) of the players is dealt with. However, both the subjects and the filmmakers demonstrate markedly less of an interest in how they got there than in where and what they are now: survivors second, beer drinkers and hell-raisers first and foremost. Throughout, their very determination to not be role models (particularly in the case of tattooed U.S. team leader Mark Zupan, a trash-mouthed force of nature) makes them so. Zupan and company have a perfect foil in Joe Soares, a former teammate who, after being cut, defected to Team Canada as a player-coach. Hyper-thyroidal, ultra-competitive, and downright scornful of his unathletic son, even he is somewhat redeemed by the film’s patient, nonjudgmental style. Somewhat.

The closest Murderball ever gets to traditional soft-focus sentiment comes with the introduction of Keith Cavill, a former motocross enthusiast struggling to come to terms with the early days of his life-altering injury. Still, the admirable lack of syrup comes through when he meets the existing team members. The gleam in his eye when he first realizes that he still has an opportunity to saddle up, break a sweat, and kick some ass speaks volumes.

For an interview with the stars of 'Murderball,' travel here.