As a biography the movie is too Disney-fied and saccharine but as a drama around sports this movie works very well. Reginald Hudlin does well to bring in many aspects and troubles of training as sports student though I felt the finale and the court case seemed too staged and cinematized and could have worked better if it was toned down. The script is uneven at times jumping from too much pressure to too less pressure and all supporting characters are just too good with transformations happening out of the blue. Yet through all this the central trio, love story, brotherhood concepts are so strong that all these flaws aren't visible. The scene with the mother giving away custody was also very powerful.

B+