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General-ly Speaking, ESPN's “Brink” Plays To Poor Reviews

Does Movie Show The Real Knight?

ESPN's made-for-TV movie, “A SEASON ON THE BRINK,” based on JOHN FEINSTEIN's best-selling book chronicling Indiana Univ.'s '85-86 basketball season, debuts Sunday night at 8:00pm ET and stars BRIAN DENNEHY as former IU head coach BOBBY KNIGHT. THE DAILY presents a round-up from this week's national media of reviews of the movie.

THUMBS MOSTLY DOWN: In K.C., Jeffrey Flanagan wrote the movie "is flawed and often hokey, sort of a contrived mix between a documentary and an R-rated `Hoosiers'" (K.C. STAR, 3/5). In CA, Evan Tuchinsky: "Take the start of `Blair Witch Project,' blend with `Hoosiers' and `Monday Night Mayhem,' miscast the lead — you'll have `Brink'" (Riverside PRESS-ENTERPRISE, 3/8). MULTICHANNEL NEWS' Charles Paikert writes while ESPN "mounts a credible production," the movie "comes across as neither fish nor fowl. It's unsatisfying as a documentary and falls flat as a drama" (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 3/4 issue). In Ft. Worth, Richie Whitt writes Brink "isn't a ridiculous double dribble, but more like a two-hour shot-clock violation" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 3/8). In Louisville, Rick Bozich called the film a "two-hour air ball," and wrote the movie will be remembered as "ESPN's `Waterworld'" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 3/5). In Philadelphia, Stan Hochman wrote under the header, "Somebody Ought To Throw A Chair At ESPN; TV Movie Is Obsessed With The Bad Knight." Hochman: "[Brink] is cartoonlike, more shriek than Shrek, more avalanche than Snow White" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 3/5). In Dallas, Tim Cowlishaw: "When it comes to sports non-fiction, even best-selling sports non-fiction involving popular and controversial figures, filmmakers shouldn't bother. When it comes to watching movies about athletes and coaches ... sports fans are as meticulous about accuracy as war buffs" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3/6). In IL, Don Doxsie wrote ESPN "should have stuck to scores and highlights." Doxsie: "In terms of plot, character development, drama and all those sorts of things, don't look for this thing to win any Emmys. I'm not sure who this film will appeal to" (QUAD-CITY TIMES, 3/5).

THE REAL GENERAL? In CA, Bob Keisser: "The film isn't very good. ... The producers mutilated the book" (LONG BEACH PRESS-TELEGRAM, 3/8). In San Diego, Tom Cushman: "[Brink] has only limited relevance to Feinstein's book, and no accurate connection to Knight and his program" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 3/3). In L.A., Howard Rosenberg: "ESPN achieves the seemingly impossible by exposing Knight as tedious" (L.A. TIMES, 3/8). In Orlando, Jerry Greene: "The real problem is that the film does not answer a single question about Knight — because it doesn't ask any questions. Instead, it plays it safe — giving you a stereotypical portrait of an egotistical bully with the occasional cornball attempt at 'showing the other side'" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/8). In N.Y., Wallace Matthews writes nothing in the film "approaches the fury, arrogance — and the inadvertent hilarity — of the real" Knight (N.Y. POST, 3/8). In FL, Jeff Elliott writes, "Those who have associated with [Knight] may not be so quick to endorse the movie" (TIMES-UNION, 3/8). In Minneapolis, Jeff Shelman: "Like most movies, this one doesn't come close to measuring up to the book because of a number of flaws. The most noticeable is the portrayal of Knight" (STAR TRIBUNE, 3/8). In Chicago, John Jackson: "The movie doesn't work because it does little more than splice together scenes of Knight berating players, officials and professors with a few scenes showing his softer side. ... [It] doesn't tell a story" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 3/5). On Long Island, Steve Zipay: "An appropriate approach would have been this: Compress `Brink' and devote more study to a man who has transcended college hoops and detail what makes him tick, and tick, and tick, and then explode" (NEWSDAY, 3/5). PEOPLE's Terry Kelleher: "Brink gives the ordinary viewer an uncomfortable close look at Knight's leadership-by-intimidation style" (PEOPLE, 3/11 issue). In St. Louis, Gail Pennington: "Unfortunately, the movie opts to show us only [the volatile] side of [Knight], giving us absolutely no additional insight into where his rage came from" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/7). In K.C., Jason Whitlock: "The movie is too one-sided. It wallows in all Knight's flaws — his crude profanity, his bully coaching techniques — and exposes none of his humanity. And trust me, there is a human, compassionate side to Knight" (K.C. STAR, 3/7).

Audience Left Wondering What
Makes Knight Tick

THE AUTHOR'S THOUGHTS: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes, "Of all the bad reviews, ... John Feinstein's is the most noteworthy." Feinstein has "trashed [the film] as adhering little to both historical facts" and his book (N.Y. POST, 3/8). Feinstein, on not being asked by ESPN to consult on the movie: "If they had spent an hour or two in a room with me, I could have made it 100[%] better. ... There are four or five scenes [in the book] that explain who Bobby Knight is better than this made-up stuff" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/5). Feinstein added that ESPN promoted the movie "to a point where you convince people it's good, even if it isn't" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 3/3).

SOME POSITIVE BUZZ: ESPN's Digger Phelps: "I told (Knight) I love the movie. That's just my feeling because the movie is balanced" (HARTFORD COURANT, 3/8). In Miami, Barry Jackson writes Knight is "played adeptly" by Dennehy. The film is a "respectable first effort from ESPN but drags at times as viewers are taken methodically through" the season (MIAMI HERALD, 3/8). In Pittsburgh, Chuck Finder: "If you enjoy sports movies, R-rated or not, you probably will enjoy this [film]. ... Me, I'd rather read the book" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 3/7). In Hartford, Jeff Rivers writes, "People who believe sports can be a metaphor for life will find things to like." But the movie "fails to shed much light on how and why he became who and what [Knight] is" (HARTFORD COURANT, 3/8).

PIGGY-BACK RIDE: In Pittsburgh, Sam Ross: "Debuting this flick in the midst of college basketball's tournament season might have seemed like a good idea, with the anticipation of promotional synergies. It isn't" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 3/7). But in Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley wrote: "What's the crime in running a film about maybe the single most interesting and controversial figure in college basketball in the wake of the tournament [selection] show? There is no moral imperative that says you have to save it for some other air time" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 3/7). In L.A., Larry Stewart notes consumers can bid on ESPN.com for "props, costumes and cast-signed items" from the film (L.A. TIMES, 3/8). ESPN will air a special "Outside the Lines — Bob Knight: Beyond the Brink" directly following the movie (THE DAILY).

The Calm Before The Storm

PARENTAL DISCRETION WISELY ADVISED: CBS college basketball analyst Billy Packer, on the film: "Here are smart-ass Disney executives out to see how they can get their stock up, and they're taking the product that put them on the map ... and putting in 15 F-bombs in the first 15 minutes. It's one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard of" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/6). But ESPN Senior VP & GM of Programming Mark Shapiro said, "We wrestled with the decision to air Knight in his entirety, and the language is very much a part of the man" (USA TODAY, 3/5). However, Knight said of the film: "What I've seen to this point is what you've seen, excerpts on TV. Almost all I've seen ... is not very close to what I do or say" (CBS SPORTSLINE, 3/6). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Bruce Orwall wrote the movie "is filled with enough profanity to rival a Quentin Tarantino movie" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/6). In Tampa, Rick Harmon calls ESPN's viewer discretion warning "definitely an understatement" (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 3/8).

DENNEHY REVIEWS: The Sporting News Radio's Chet Coppock said Dennehy "looks more like a gray-haired Ralph Kramden than" Knight (THE SPORTING NEWS, 3/4 issue). In SC, Gene Sapakoff wrote Dennehy "doesn't quite nail Bobby Knight. Maybe it's because we know Knight all too well. We hope for a closer physical resemblance in the movie version. ... Dennehy is too short, a little too old, definitely too chunky" (Charleston POST & COURIER, 3/6). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Frank Scheck wrote Dennehy "is unable to seize and embody the true Knight character" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 3/7). But in St. Pete, Sharon Ginn writes Dennehy "makes for an adequate Knight, capturing much of his essence but unable to generate the piercing glare that is so much a part of Knight's persona" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 3/8).

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