MURDERBALL, invented by the Canadians and around for more than 10 years, is quadriplegic rugby played in armoured wheelchairs like the bloodied sports of the gladiators of old.  The activity has grown tremendously, aided by publicity from media like films of this sort, leading to quad-rugby competitions held the world over.  Directors trace the members of the U.S. team and their defecting (to Canada) coach for two years as they fight, argue, live and cry out their lives and their game.  For most of these guys, this game is their entire life.  And they would not go back to their normal lives otherwise, as many players claim, during interviews.

The directors spend some time explaining the sport, how members are chosen based on their degree of disability (a player is actually given a ranking from .5 to 3.5) as well as the rules of the game.  One of the stars of the U.S. team is Mark Zupan.  Zupan’s punk, devil-may-care attitude suits him to the game.  He is bold enough to have the filmmakers document his story from his accident to recovery to his sex life with his girlfriend.  His story helps humanize MURDERBALL.  Zupan is currently in Toronto promoting the film as well.

But MURDERBALL runs out of material halfway and the directors fill in the gap by integrating a non-player Keith into the film.  They tend to hide it quite well with a segment in which Keith tries a hand at the game.  Other than that, Keith serves as an alienated topic.  Still, flaws aside, MURDERBALL, which won the Sundance 2005 audience award, is perhaps the most exciting of all the docs to emerge this year.  The climatic game between the rival U.S. and Canadian teams at the end is as exciting as any commercial fictional sports film.