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UNSTOPPABLE

Unstoppable is a mashup of an underdog sports movie and a domestic drama about a family terrorized by an abusive father. The worst thing I can say about it is that it is conventional, but since when is that a crime? A true-life story told in linear fashion with a superior cast still resonates in 2025, especially with this one’s provenance and cast.

Jharrel Jerome plays high school wrestler Anthony Jerome, who was born with just one leg but doesn’t let his disability define him. He has an innate drive to succeed and doesn’t want to settle for being second-best. Jennifer Lopez plays his loving and protective mother, who has endured physical and verbal assaults from his stepfather (Bobby Cannavale) far too long. His younger siblings idolize Anthony but cower in fear of their unpredictable dad.

I was genuinely impressed with Jerome, whose breakout role in Moonlight has led to other first-rate opportunities in such premium fare as When They See Us and Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse (in which he provided the voice of Miles Morales) premium gigs. Jennifer Lopez is earnest and credible as the boy’s protective mother, Don Cheadle strikes just the right note as his coach, and Bobby Cannavale is frighteningly good as the hot-tempered stepfather.

This feature marks the directing debut of William Goldenberg, who won an Oscar for editing Argo. Fittingly, Unstoppable was produced by Artists Equity, the new-ish partnership of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. I fear this straightforward telling of Anthony Jerome’s life story will be too “ordinary” to make waves during awards season, but that’s OK: I’m pretty sure moviegoers will approve. It’s been playing in theaters and is now available to watch at home on Amazon Prime.

Leonard Maltin is one of the world’s most respected film critics and historians. He is best known for his widely-used reference work Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide and its companion volume Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide, now in its third edition, as well as his thirty-year run on television’s Entertainment Tonight. He teaches at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and appears regularly on Reelz Channel and Turner Classic Movies. His books include The 151 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, The Great Movie Comedians, The Disney Films, The Art of the Cinematographer, Movie Comedy Teams, The Great American Broadcast, and Leonard Maltin’s Movie Encyclopedia. He served two terms as President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, is a voting member of the National Film Registry, and was appointed by the Librarian of Congress to sit on the Board of Directors of the National Film Preservation Foundation. He hosted and co-produced the popular Walt Disney Treasures DVD series and has appeared on innumerable television programs and documentaries. He has been the recipient of awards from the American Society of Cinematographers, the Telluride Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, and San Diego’s Comic-Con International. Perhaps the pinnacle of his career was his appearance in a now-classic episode of South Park. (Or was it Carmela consulting his Movie Guide on an episode of The Sopranos?) He holds court at leonardmaltin.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook; you can also listen to him on his weekly podcast: Maltin on Movies. — [Artwork by Drew Friedman]

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