A movie documenting NBA Houston Rockets player JEREMY LIN's rise from an "obscure Ivy League basketball player to an NBA star with a global following was enthusiastically received" at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, according to the CNA. An L.A. Times report called "Linsanity: the Movie" easily "one of the most crowd-pleasing documentaries to play" in the festival this year. The movie is directed by EVAN JACKSON LEONG. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Leong said that the movie ends with the Linsanity phenomenon, but Lin's journey to that stage "is what the movie is all about." Leong said, "I actually heard about him in Harvard, and at that point, to me, he was already a fascinating story because he already got farther than most any Asian American player I've ever seen" (CNA, 1/23).
GOOD REVIEWS: In a review in the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, Justin Lowe wrote the documentary has a "mix of personal interviews -- including extensive on-camera discussions with Lin, combined with more informal scenes -- home-video footage from Lin's childhood and clips from his high school and college careers, as well as game-play commentary from ESPN and other broadcasters." Leong has "assembled a film that's not just a stirring sports drama but also a classic immigrant-family success story, presented in an entirely new context." With Leong "skillfully orchestrating the interview segments" and actor DANIEL DAE KIM "narrating a voice-over that occasionally tends toward an overly dramatic tone, the film is attractively packaged and superlatively edited by GREG LOUIE." However, since the film's title "emphasizes public reaction to Lin's rise to stardom, some additional footage featuring fan reactions and social media trends would have been welcome" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 1/21).
