"GLEASON," a 111-minute documentary about the life of former NFLer STEVE GLEASON, who is now battling ALS, premiered Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival and "is one raw, wild ride," according to Peter King of the THE MMQB. In quiet moments in the theater, observers "could hear sniffling and emotional gasps from the sellout crowd of 550." Gleason "allowed a team of videographers into his life to record video journals for his son, RIVERS, who was born the autumn after Gleason learned he had the affliction." That became an "intimate look into his life and that of his wife, MICHEL VARISCO, and how the two dealt with Steve’s soul-crushing malady." King: "It is all in this documentary. I mean, all. The nightmare of bodily functions when you have ALS ... The family discord with Steve’s father, who took an angry Gleason to a faith healer ... Gleason at one point wailing, garbled because ALS was robbing him of his voice, into the camera: 'I DON’T WANT TO DIE!'" King: "I can’t recommend the film strongly enough" (MMQB.SI.com, 1/25). The AP's Brett Martel wrote viewers "might find themselves outside of their comfort zones seeing Gleason's physical decline in graphic detail." Directors "worked with 1,300 hours of footage," which also "revisits Gleason's fearless presence on the football field" (AP, 1/22). Martel tweeted, "Advice for those who see the #Gleason film: Bring tissues. Everyone in the theater was a mess" (TWITTER.com, 1/23). In N.Y., Brooks Barnes wrote people watching the movie should "prepare to be wrecked." It "spares no humiliating detail; one lengthy scene involves an enema" (NYTIMES.com, 1/21). In Utah, Doug Fox wrote "Gleason" will never "become a blockbuster as far as mainstream movies go -- but in the realm of gripping and emotional documentaries, this one is as good as it gets" (Utah Valley DAILY HERALD, 1/24).
