High Flying Bird: What would happen if the NBA had another lockout?

Boasting the writer from Moonlight and the Director of Traffic, High Flying Bird takes an interesting look at the dynamic between pro sports leagues and their players.

High Flying Bird has a lot of aspects that make it interesting. An Oscar-winning writer in Tarrell McCraney and director in Steven Soderbergh is a great start. Then you get to the cast; Andre Holland (Moonlight), Melvin Gregg (American Vandal), Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2, Atlanta), Zachary Quinto (American Horror Story, Star Trek) and Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things). Any one of these pieces would get someone’s attention, but then another angle was added.

Following the critical acclaim of Unsane (though fans didn’t appreciate it as much), Soderbergh decided to shoot this film on an iPhone as well. Having watched four movies shot on an iPhone now, I can say that the medium makes for a more intimate or claustrophobic experience depending on the angles. This movie did not feel like an iPhone shot movie at all times, however, as the picture quality has improved along with the models.

The subject was also of interest given the current climate in the NBA. Lebron James recently tweeted about another player being traded during a game. His point was that when the teams make decisions like this one it is, looked at as a business decision, but when players make decisions that are against the team’s will, they’re seen as selfish. This movie takes place during an NBA lockout and explores the idea of what would happen if the players suddenly had control of the product.

The player-agent dynamic

From the first scene, I loved the dynamic between Andre Holland and Melvin Gregg’s characters. Holland plays NBA agent Ray Burke who is both clean-cut and street-wise. He’s talking to his client, rookie Erick Scott (Gregg), about a mistake he made but more importantly about how they’re going to make it through the lockout. Throughout the film the discussions are serious but with jokes break just enough to keep the film from becoming monotonous. This first conversation set the tone for the film.

Ray Burke is good at his job but not to the point that he comes off as some super agent. He’s a player’s agent who would rather work with smaller clients than big ones and is willing to take risks others wouldn’t to secure their futures. Erick Scott is a kid who just wants to play basketball and isn’t wise to the world that he’s become a part of. He’s dependent upon Burke to help him navigate the shark-infested waters.

Gregg comes into this role after his breakout as the star of the basketball team in American Vandal season 2 so this was an easy transition for him. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see him play much basketball in this one but he was great in his role here and I hope to see more of him down the road. Holland, meanwhile, gets to star in this one and does so as the quietly charismatic agent. The beauty of this movie was the quality of the characters and these two were definitely among them.

Strong female characters

In a movie about a league full of men, it was refreshing to see women in powerful roles. Zazie Beetz plays Ray Burke’s ambitious assistant, Sam. She is introduced as the assistant but carries herself as much more. She’s an assistant in title only as she chose to take the role to learn from a veteran. As always, Zazie is a treat.

Along with Zazie’s role, Sonja Sohn plays Myra. Myra is acting as the players association president and she’s able to project her strength and femininity while dealing with the men on both sides.

NBA stars

One element of the film that added to the story was the stories from the actual players. Throughout High Flying Bird, there are cut-aways to interviews with Karl Anthony Towns, Reggie Jackson and Donovan Mitchell. These interviews helped break up the action as well as adding perspective to the story.

Hearing stories about player’s rookie seasons and what it takes to succeed helps you get into the mindset of Melvin Gregg’s character as well as just being interesting to hear. As a fan of the NBA, and especially Donovan Mitchell, this was a very welcome addition.

Overall

In my reviews, I always try to give you a feel for the story without giving the story away. In this one, the best way to do that is with one line. At a pivotal moment in the film, Holland’s character has an exchange with Bill Duke’s character, Spence. Spence runs a youth center and seems to play the role of a mentor for Burke. While struggling with the idea of the lockout extending and his players ending up in desperate situations, Burke ends up in the gym to get some shots up.

At the end of his conversation with Spence, Spence asks: “How do you show a man his humanity?” and Burke responds: “You remind him of his mortality.”

The quote comes off dramatic without context but it’s the perfect summation of what the players have to do.

High Flying Bird is now streaming on Netflix.