The so-called Black List is on my personal black list for reviews: The list has been published every December since 2005 – and, according to industry insiders, contains the best yet-to-be-filmed scripts that are currently being passed around in Hollywood studios. Thanks to later cinema hits such as “Juno”, “Hangover” and “Slumdog Millionaire”, a real gold rush atmosphere broke out around the scripts, especially in the early days. But in recent years – also in view of the difficult situation of the independent market – things have become increasingly quiet Black List become. And because more than 1,200 titles have been included in the annual list in the past two decades, the significance is now so close to zero that I hardly consider a place on the list in film reviews to be worth mentioning.
But I still make an exception for the horror shocker “Him – The Greatest of All Time”. Because when the credits roll after almost an hour and a half, the first thing you ask yourself is what the original script by Skip Bronkie and Zack Akers, originally written under the title “Goat” (an abbreviation for “Greatest Of All Time”), might have looked like? Because a lot must have been lost during director Justin Tipping's final revision. The result feels as if “Him” was just a series of best-of scenes from an actually (much) longer film, from which character moments and plot developments were consistently cut out in favor of a radical aesthetic form.
Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers) is still at the beginning of his career, but would do anything to be as successful as his idol Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans)!
For as long as he can remember, Cameron “Cam” Cade (Tyriq Withers) has been emulating his great idol – the eight-time (!) Superbowl winner – Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans). But then the aspiring professional quarterback is knocked down by an anonymous attacker shortly before his big breakthrough – and his head injury means that most clubs are now afraid to take the risk of betting on him at the upcoming draft day. But there is still one last chance: White, who is about to retire himself, invites Cam to a week-long football camp at his training center deep in the desert – and if the rookie can convince the undisputed Goat, then the club owners won't be able to avoid him either…
Actually perfect timing
Films that revolve around traditional American sports such as baseball or football have traditionally had a difficult time with German audiences. Even genre classics such as “Field of Dreams” or “Against Every Rule” do not enjoy nearly as much of a reputation here as they do in their American homeland. But at least when it comes to football, the wind seems to be changing increasingly in recent years: NFL games are increasingly not being relegated to the special interest programs, but are being broadcast on the main program of the free-to-air channels. The local distributor Universal Pictures Germany definitely made the right decision to bring “Him – The Greatest of All Time” to cinemas in the week after the NFL guest game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Atlanta Falcon in front of more than 70,000 fans in the Berlin Olympic Stadium.
The only problem is: If football fans – even those with a basic horror affinity – go to “Him” unprepared, most of them will only think afterwards: What the hell was that?
With eight Super Bowl wins, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans) is undoubtedly the Goat!
It's less about the fact that you can't follow the plot: the symbolism surrounding pagan rituals and Faustian sacrifices, which isn't particularly difficult to interpret, is ultimately present in almost every shot. Rather, the developments are missing. Marlon Wayans portrays his eight-time champion as an over-the-top Mephistopheles right from the start – and the first training session is the one that is most disturbing: Cam always only has two seconds to throw a pass after turning around – and if he doesn't manage to do that, another player gets a football in the face at close range and with full power until his knocked-out teeth are scattered all over the hall!
Justin Tipping stages the path to professional business as a surreal limbo in a look somewhere between a glossy sneaker commercial and a decidedly provocative rap music video. But not only is there hardly any development, but also hardly any variety or even a consistent progression: the seven chapters (each for one day of the training week) are far too similar – and so the tension that was built up at the beginning fades more and more in the second half, as soon as you slowly realize that there isn't much more to come, until it finally fizzles out completely. At least Justin Tipping shoots completely freely in the finale – although that can't save the film, it at least gives the gore fans in the audience a somewhat reconciliatory conclusion.
Conclusion: Visually it's a brilliant (gore) pleasure, but in terms of content there's too little behind it despite the omnipresent symbolism. Ultimately, “Him – The Greatest of All Time” presents a solid concept for a five-minute music video, just expanded to feature length.