Movie Review: ‘Unstoppable’ Total Excuse Killer in More Ways Than One

Jharrel Jerome (right) stars as Anthony Robles in “Unstoppable” (Photo Credit: Ana Carballosa/Amazon Content Services LLC).

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(“Unstoppable” trailer courtesy of Prime Video)

A wise man once said that excuses are tools of incompetence used to build monuments of nothing and are seldom used for anything.

Although many people love to make excuses for not achieving their goals in life, real winners use obstacles as motivation to succeed and not to give up.

In the biopic “Unstoppable,” Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome, “Moonlight”) becomes an absolute excuse killer, creating a life story that births one of the most inspirational movies in years.

No matter how hard life becomes for people, everyone still has dreams.

However, as time progresses and the real world sets in, many people settle without seeing their dreams come true.

But there is something about childhood innocence that believes everything is attainable.

Unfortunately, many people lose that innocent confidence as soon as trials and tribulations come their way and the situation gets dimmer.

In “Unstoppable,” Anthony should have given up years ago because of his physical and financial predicament.

Although Anthony comes from a two-parent home with loving little siblings, his life has not been a crystal stair.

When many teenagers are simply trying to enjoy high school, date and party, Anthony has real-world obligations.

Anthony attends school during the day.

He goes to wrestling practice in the afternoon and evenings.

And he has a nighttime job cleaning airplanes with Eddie (Mykelti Williamson), who has become a father figure to the aspiring champion wrestler.

In fact, Anthony also has a father figure in his high school wrestling instructor, Coach Bobby Williams (Michael Pena).

However, when a person has many father figures it could mean that they do not have a real father at home.

Although Rick Robles (Bobby Cannavale) is in the home, he treats Anthony a little differently than the rest of his children.

If he treats Anthony differently, he treats his wife Judy Robles (Jennifer Lopez) downright poorly.

In “Unstoppable,” it takes Rick hours to pick up takeout food.

He is verbally disrespectful to Judy and Anthony.

And with all that Anthony has accomplished, despite the obstacles, Rick still seems unimpressed with the eldest child of the family.

Anthony deals with many of the stresses that countless children go through daily.

But he does so with a handicap that would have sidelined many weaker individuals.

In “Unstoppable,” Anthony is born with only one leg.

But instead of complaining about his situation, he pushes forward as if he is no different than any other teenager.

Unfortunately, society sees Anthony differently no matter what he accomplishes on the wrestling mat.

The University of Iowa is the crème de la crème of college wrestling, and Anthony has his eyes set on being a Hawkeye.

But even after winning a national wrestling championship, Anthony still gets no love from the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Thankfully, Drexel University believes in Anthony, offering him a full-ride scholarship to attend the school in Philadelphia.

A scholarship would help any student-athlete.

But for someone from Anthony’s socioeconomic background, a full-ride scholarship could change the trajectory of his family forever.

However, Anthony wants to keep his options open to see if a school from a power conference might circle back and give him an opportunity.

The opportunity at Drexel is amazing.

But Anthony does not believe a small program like Drexel will ever compete for a national championship like Iowa.

Knowing that Anthony’s circumstances look dire, Coach Shawn Charles (Don Cheadle) from Arizona State University agrees to meet with the talented teenager at Coach Bobby Williams’ request.

Coach Shawn Charles makes it known that he has no scholarships for Anthony, and very few walk-ons make the Sun Devils team.

But when a man believes in himself, he might be willing to travel the difficult road toward greatness and not the safe road toward mediocrity.

Unfortunately, many sports movies get hit with the cliché description.

If the film does not have a happy ending, what is the point in even producing the motion picture?

While many sports movies are meant to inspire, the inspiration in “Unstoppable” is not reserved for the sporting arena.

“Unstoppable” is motivational in multiple ways.

If moviegoers do not leave the theater with a charged battery in their back, they might not have a pulse.

Additionally, “Unstoppable” shows just how unstoppable Jerome’s career is becoming with past knockout performances in “When They See Us” about the Exonerated Five and “Concrete Cowboy” starring Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin.

But even with a blossoming star in Jerome, “Unstoppable” benefits from some of the O.G.s of the Hollywood game.

Williamson is great in everything, bringing his own brand of comedy to “Unstoppable” like he did in previous films like “ATL” and “Waiting to Exhale.”

While Williamson does not have any iconic lines in “Unstoppable,” like when Troy calls Robin a raggedy “B” in “Waiting to Exhale,” his lines about Iowa just having White folks and corn are laugh-out-loud funny.

In her role as Judy, Lopez is equally as inspiring as Jerome.

Cheadle is steady.

But Cannavale is the resident jerk in “Unstoppable” who desperately needs his behind kicked with the quickness.

Cannavale plays his character so well that moviegoers might jump at the chance to kick his behind themselves.

His character Rick has a great family.

However, Rick does not appreciate it until it is possibly too late.

Not realizing a person’s blessing before it is too late is not something that Anthony struggles with, however.

He knows his time for greatness is limited because of his disability.

And he refuses to make any excuses on his way to the mountaintop.

Check out “Unstoppable” on Prime Video.

 

REGAL RATINGS

FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT

THREE CROWNS=GOOD

TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE

ONE CROWN=POOR

Todd A. Smith
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