This is a documentary film about a historically unsuccessful high school football team and the rebuilding of the program by a volunteer coach in North Memphis, Tennessee. There is some adult language used that may be reserved for early teens and up. Also the movie is a little long but short enough to give a full story of the team. The movie targets two areas that Americans love dearly; their football and their youth. Americans are very involved, concerned, and infatuated with things we would have done different and being an athlete or reliving High school are two of the topics at the top of the list. The film starts with a very grabbing summary of recent events by the head coach, Bill Courtney, that grabs any viewers' curiosity for the entire film. Like most sports movies, as you probably expect, this is another underdog story. It is a "rags to riches" feel of a high school football team's season and it's rise to a become winning program with it's inner city talent. The school goes from a "pay to play" school where larger football programs pay the school to come and play them for a guaranteed win so that bad team can pay for their athletic programs to a more competitive school. The main characters and the chronology of the events through out the film tie into the ending very well. The three main characters, within the team, that are followed throughout were a good selection. There is the star player, O.C, the team captain and academic, Money, and the trouble causing player, Chavis. The turn of events from the beginning to end between Money and Chavis are worth keeping an eye on. This film really speaks to former athletes that have been removed from the camaraderie of school sports for a few years at the least. The shots captured of the home, student, and athlete life style causes me recall my own memories that are very much the same as in the film. The coach and player interactions during practice, in the school hallways, and the extra effort to make home visit for the athletes remind me of the same experiences I also had as a player. Although I don't mind, some may, when Coach Courtney makes a playful racist remark when trying to resolve another of Chavis's anger outrages. One of the coaches also touches on the local criticisms of the help the star player is getting similar to the movie The Blind Side with Michael Oher. I see this documentary as spotlighting the sport of football and belonging to a sports team as an alternative to other activities outside of school, like gang activity. Some may see this film as focusing attention the bad conditions of inner city schools and youth. The coach teaches positive lessons to the players as an alternative to what they were dealing with at home. Chavis gives us a good example of why the environment and team is more important than himself and his actions. This film does a great job telling the story of the football teams and a few key characters. It has a story line that plays out so well as if it were scripted but is so authentic that there is no way it could be made up. There are a lot of heartfelt and genuine lessons throughout this documentary and I hope you enjoy.

I love watching sports movies of all kinds, especially football movies. Comedy, drama, whatever, but now I can add documentary to the list. This movie drew me in from the very beginning because of its wonderful story about a man willing to invest years of his life in children that nobody else would help. This is not a common thing these days and I felt like maybe the world isn't as crude and harsh as I have believed. Anyways, moving on, Undefeated was an excellent portrayal of a real underdog team with real lives. Time was spent on getting to know the players and not only on watching their games. It made me laugh and cry and get angry, any everybody knows that a great movie does that. Also, it made me want to comment on it, which I am normally way to lazy to do. If you want to see a documentary that will move you, play this movie and watch the magic happen.

I never take the time to write reviews here on IMDb, but for this film, I simply had to. What a beautiful documentary. I am not a big football fan and still loved it. I found myself on the edge of shedding a tear. What a heartwarming and positive film that I would go out of my way to recommend to anyone. Coach Bill even impacted myself - I learned character is everything; as he always said, "Character is not about how you handle your successes, but how you handle your failures." As the title says, this movie is not about football, it's about character. It truly was the epitome of the ultimate inspiring sports movie. What are you waiting for? Go watch it!

I watch a lot of movies; I mean A LOT of movies. I've been very interested in the art of communicating stories in a meaningful way since the days of "Grave Marauders" back in the 5th grade. I've acted in quite a few plays, attended an acting school in Hollywood, worked at Pixar, etc. So I feel like I've got a pretty good handle on how to discriminate between good and bad films. Also, in addition to growing up without a father, experiencing first-hand the struggles that come as a result, I also had the privilege to serve as a School Resource Officer for a couple of years. That experience gave me the opportunity, in a greater social context, to see the fallout of young men growing up without fathers. Day after day I witnessed young men with incredible potential, sabotage their own lives as they struggled to figure out who they are, what it means to be a man, and do their best to figure out how to become one.In my opinion, young men growing up with absent fathers is one of the most damaging social epidemics of our time, the consequences of which leave devastating and painful scars that negatively impact every single aspect of our culture. To aggravate matters more, the very source of the problem (the absence of strong, positive male leaders) is the very reason why progress toward the solution is so slow. It is very difficult to find men of character who are willing and strong enough to endure the friction and frustration that comes as a result of attempting to mentor these frustrated and lost, yet very bright and talented young men.How inspiring it was to have this film introduce us to a true man and leader like Bill Courtney. I absolutely love that the film did not paint him to be someone he is not; that they showed us his moments of weakness and frustration as well as his moments of victory, strength, and success. Too often, I think that men shrink from opportunities to serve in meaningful ways because we are led to believe that we have to be perfect; that we have to have it all together. The lives of the young men he coached are forever changed in fantastic and positive ways that, had he not stepped up, would otherwise never have happened.The following point is the greatest thing of all to me: Not only have their lives been enriched as a result of Bill Courtney being involved, but the world becomes a better place as well. These young men will go on to have a positive impact on their families and communities and, even if it's only in a small way, the world becomes a better place; all because Bill Courtney cared about those young men. He wasn't perfect; he got mad and frustrated and cursed and fought. But he was present; he was there. He cared for those young men, and they knew it.It just goes to show that, when a strong leader, even an imperfect one, takes the time to help rebuild the broken emotional foundation of a young man, and teaches them how to recognize and appreciate their own value, it empowers that young man to unleash his talents, gifts, skills, abilities, goodness, and potential upon the world… making it a better place.This movie is FANTASTIC and is by far one of my very favorites. It is a MUST SEE.