Movie review
March 9, 2023 · 124 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
A hotheaded minor league basketball coach is sentenced to community service and ends up training a Special Olympics basketball team called the Friends. The comedy-drama follows his redemption arc as the team competes and the coach learns humility through the experience. The narrative centers on the players’ capabilities and teamwork in a standard underdog sports story. No strong woke elements appear in the core story or themes.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Champions.
Woke representation / casting
Casting of intellectually disabled actors in intellectually disabled roles matches the Special Olympics premise with no forced diversity or mismatch.
Woke political dialogue
No activist or political dialogue present.
Identity-driven story themes
Story centers on intellectually disabled characters’ achievements and inclusion as key to the narrative.
Western institutional / cultural critique
No modern activist institutional critique or identity-politics framing.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Production
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No woke complaints or backlash reported.
Creator track record context
Director Bobby Farrelly has a pattern of casting actors with disabilities in his films but no record of activist political projects.
