MUDBLOODS (Farzad Sangari). 89 minutes. Opens Friday (October 10) at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NN
Nerdy college athletes competing in a grounded version of Quidditch, the fantasy sport from Harry Potter, face an uphill battle convincing audiences that their pastime is more than just cosplay taken to an absurd new level.
Similarly, the amateurish documentary about said athletes, Mudbloods, has a hard time convincing us to take these players seriously. How could you? When they aren’t running around with brooms between their legs, some hole up in dorm rooms adorned with Speed Racer posters, while others write rap lyrics like “catch a snitch,” referring to the flying golden orb in the fictional sport.
The film’s focus is on the UCLA team, headed by Tom Marks, an eager sort who insists that the world just can’t get past the dorky surface to appreciate how “for real” Quidditch is.
Neither Tom nor the rest of his team make an impression. While they repeat ad nauseam their justifications for the sport, we don’t get to know anyone intimately before they head to New York City for the Quidditch World Cup.
There the doc shifts to the clichéd underdog story – in a sport populated by nothing but underdogs – while the camera barely keeps up with all the moving parts the game involves, as if it, like us, can’t be bothered taking Quidditch seriously.
