Stormy Times - DVD

Movie: The season is going well for coach Al Collins' (Forest Whitaker) high school basketball team. But a disaster of unimagined proportions threatens to abruptly shatter the dreams of the New Orleans students when Hurricane Katrina hits the city with full force. The devastation and the many tragedies that everyone now has to deal with drives many of those affected out of the city, causing mundane things like basketball to completely take a back seat. But Coach Collins isn't about to let the effects of the hurricane get the best of him. He believes that it is of tremendous importance right now for his students to get some regular routine and hope back into their lives. He wants to give those who have remained in New Orleans the opportunity to release their fears and anger on the field and to gain new hope for a better future through victories. But with his plan, the coach encounters enormous opposition not only from parents, but also from colleagues and his own family. And soon it seems as if Katrina has really taken away all hope from the city...

Director Tim Story (Fantastic Four), who has primarily ventured into black comedy territory with films like Think Like a Man, Barbershop and New York Taxi, tries his hand at a moving drama with Stormy Times that aims to be far more than a straightforward sports movie. To be sure, it's also about the genre's typical message of team spirit, the will to win, and the great American dream. But the film is also a portrait of a city that, after the trauma of Hurricane Katrina's destruction, has lost not only faith in the government, but the very hope of achieving the American dream. Sure, the drama wants to be an entertainment film first and foremost, so it relies more on pathos than hard-hitting authenticity. Nevertheless, Tim Story succeeded very well in reflecting the fate of the people of New Orleans credibly and with quite a high intensity.

He shows very well how people have changed due to the catastrophe, how their world view has been shifted and how the attempt of a person to hold on to old habits and ideals especially now meets with enormous resistance from the traumatized community. The whole thing is not free of kitsch and clichés, but is overall very haunting, rousing and extremely entertaining staged. Forest Whitaker plays the dedicated coach with great conviction, is supported by a good ensemble, where only the acting rappers Bow Wow and Lil` Wayne deliver not exactly stunning performances, but at the same time make the film more accessible to a younger audience.

With some harrowing images of devastated New Orleans, a tightly constructed dramaturgy, and even at the end pleasingly restrained pathos, Stormy Times proves on balance to be a very good drama that not only entertains well as a sports movie, but also as an inspiring story based on true events. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The drama presents itself on the DVD in good picture and sound quality. The visual realization convinces with a high image sharpness, which can still convince even in the representation of smaller details. In addition, the colouring of the very clean and distortion-free picture also appears very coherent. The sound is dominated for long stretches by the dialogue and smaller sound effects during the basketball games, but here and there clearer surround effects provide some dynamics in the tonal events. The DTS mix turns out a bit more powerful overall, but even the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is perfectly adequate for a rather quiet drama like this.

Extras: In addition to the trailer for the film, the DVD has just under 42 minutes of cut scenes (with optional German subtitles) to offer. Good!

Conclusion: Stormy Times is a good drama, convincing both as a sports movie and as an inspiring story about hope and determination in times of worst crises. While it's not entirely free of kitsch and pathos, the good cast, engaging mix of fact and fiction, and very good visuals make the film, on balance, absolutely worth watching for all fans of American drama!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp