GURU OF GO
No. 9 of 30
Directed by: Bill Couturié
Runtime: 51 min.
The last day of Hank Gathers's life was March 4, 1990. He was 23 years old. On March 4, 1990, I turned four years old (srs). I did not know who Hank Gathers was until years later. I only knew him through ESPN Classic, and the iconic image of Bo Kimble shooting left handed in his honor.
I was expecting this to be about the life and death of Hank Gathers, and I was excited to relive a player and a story that I was too young to experience as it happened. So I felt somewhat duped when I found out the film's primary focus was Gathers's coach, Paul Westhead. The first ten minutes center around Westhead leading the Lakers to a title as an interim coach in 1980. The only mention in the opening sequence of either Loyola Marymount or Gathers comes from a cryptic soundbite from Hank's brother, Derrick. ("His heart, man ... it was bad.") The filmmakers seemed hellbent on focusing on Westhead -- an eccentric coach, one who quoted Shakespeare and employed a radical offensive system that sometimes worked wonders, but most of the time failed miserably -- instead of going with the more compelling tragedy of Gathers.
And this is completely arbitrary and I'll admit to that, but I have a personal preference for how a documentary should feel. This doc felt cheap and amateurish in many ways, because it leaned so heavily on stock transitions that were either uncreative, cheaply produced, cheesy, or a combination of the three. There was cheesy stock B and W footage, weird Shakespeare full page overlays, some random movie clip of a guillotine, reenacted shots of people watching TV in their living room, and plenty of other awkward or otherwise unneeded transitions. There are many ways to cover for gaps in footage, but I for one appreciate it when the filmmakers try a bit harder to hide the fact that they just plain don't have enough picture to go with what they are saying.
Anyway, we eventually learn about Hank's tough upbringing in North Philadelphia, mainly through a present-day interview with his brother Derrick. It is clear from Derrick's emotional interview how tight the Gathers family was growing up. You can still hear the pain in his voice years later. A few other Philly locals weigh in with the standard quotes on how great of a kid he was and how much promise he had. The film picks up momentum at that point, as we finally see some footage of Gathers and his best friend and teammate Bo Kimble playing basketball. We learn that Kimble and Gathers came to the west coast from Philadelphia, and only ended up at Loyola-Marymount after a coaching change at USC forced their transfer. Of course, Westhead being a fellow Philly guy and his vaunted offensive system is what ultimately landed them at LMU.
There are a few easy conventions that Guru of Go opted not to lean on. One being the winning streak montage. In a dimly lit practice gym, Paul Westhead tells us that with Hank and Bo running his system, the team rattled off 25 wins in a row. Naturally, being an experienced sports film viewer, I thought to myself "montage time" .... There I was, expecting to be assaulted with a three-minute blitzkrieg of electric guitar, horizontally scrolling newspaper headlines, and hellacious alley oops. But no, nothing came. Just more interviews from former coaches and teammates in dimly lit gyms. Whatever momentum we had was abruptly cut short by more weird Shakespeare transitions and that was that.
We hardly see anymore game footage until we see Hank collapse on the court the first time, in a Dec. 9, 1989 game v. UC-Santa Barbara. Hank, we are told through more interviews, had an enlarged heart and an irregular heartbeat. He is prescribed medicine but after a few lethargic performances, Gathers decided to dial down the meds. Three months later in a conference tournament game against Portland, Gathers would collapse again. The moment where you see him drop is horrifying, it's as if he was shot. The next few minutes are handled nicely by the filmmakers. The facial expressions from the interviewees as they recounted Hank's death was captured and compiled perfectly, and all of it was done without a word spoken.
We get one more look at the bottom of Hank's sneakers as he exits the gym via a stretcher, and it fades to black... A somber out point for sure.
BUT WAIT! ... (cue the snappy music) We still have to tell you all there is to know about the Phoenix Mercury's memorable WNBA title run in (who the fuck knows what year), fueled by -- you guessed it -- coach Westhead and his vaunted SYSTEM! Yep, that's right. They have this compelling, tragic and beautifully told story about two friends from Philadelphia who almost changed college basketball, until one tragically died and his loss is mourned across the country, and they bookend it with Magic Johnson and Diana Taurasi.
Diana Taurasi? The fuck is she doing here?
This is worth watching for the stuff in the middle, but ultimately I felt it missed the mark. Or at least, my subjective view of what "the mark" should have been.
Production value: 6
Cool/rare/unseen footage factor: 7
Handling of subject matter: 7
Informational value: 5
Entertainment value: 6
Total: 31
Avg: 6.2
