NFL
By: Matt Overton
I attended my first Gofobo early screening tonight for the release of HIM—shoutout to TeamNBS for procuring those passes. After fumbling with the seating and being kicked out of the VIP section, we managed to find our way to the only available seats in the third row. It was packed, and the audience was really into it during the screening, but I thought HIM was really lacking in substance. As a sports horror film, it treads interesting ground that hasn’t been explored all that much before, but in its thrill-seeking, the film loses sight of the larger themes at play.
I would love to know if the same manager that Jordan Peele fired over losing out on Weapons was the same one who booked this gig. It’s a tough situation, no matter how you swing it—either the same dude delivered another colossal L to Peele or the fresh recruit lined up a stinker for his first gig. HIM is only Justin Tipping’s second film, and Peele’s involvement was felt heavily in the marketing. Monkeypaw provided a firm shoulder for Tipping to lean on; however, he and his two co-writers, Skip Bronkie and Zack Akers, seriously dropped the ball.
Cameron Cade is a football legend in the making, but his status in the league is in question. But it was very hard to follow where this character was in his career. We don’t see any playtime before his questionably written career-ending injury takes place, and his recovery takes priority. When he’s invited to the current Goat’s training camp, he, of course, jumps at the opportunity to train with Isaiah White, played by Marlon Wayans.
The setup here is exactly the same as all of the eat the rich movies we’ve seen in the last five years, so the outcome of this film was never in doubt. The lack of tension is one of the major sore spots in this film. Cam gets to training, and his physical condition gets better as his environment worsens his mental condition. White is a loose cannon, and props are deserved for Wayans’ dramatic role. While I did enjoy watching him pivot towards something more dramatic and less comedic, everyone else is completely phoning it in. Tyriq Withers does not have the capability to lead a film such as this, nor does he have the wherewithal to make any of this believable or engaging.
Being the noted sports disliker, I can still appreciate a good sports movie when I see one. HIM attempts something special by twisting a sports movie into a psychological thriller, but the elements are so underbaked that it almost comes off as an afterthought. There’s enough dark and devilish imagery to know what the film was aiming for, but in all the cringey goat talks and hype up speeches, it forgets to be thrilling. Wrap it all up with one of the most unsatisfying, clichéd endings of the year, and HIM is destined for the trash can.
I can imagine HIM will put up respectable numbers at the box office, mainly because of the marketing and Peele’s heavily advertised involvement, but Tipping is going to have to improve his craft if he wants to be taken seriously. With a lackluster writing crew and the hodgepodge of ideas thrown together here, HIM comes down to a failure in execution. There are a few winning elements present, but without any serious talent to make it happen, this movie fails to come together at all.
