Champion indigenous Australian rules footballer Adam Goodes' public battle against racism after a 2013 incident in which a 13-year-old girl racially vilified him during a game inspired two high-profile documentaries last year: The Australian Dream and this one, The Final Quarter.
You may recall in February I rated the former as my #2 movie of 2019 and so, when I finally got see the latter this week I couldn't help, as hard as I tried not to, to compare it with that. But while I've no doubt the makers of this one had great intentions, and director Ian Darling has said (to his credit) he strove to not take sides with it, I'm afraid it's very easy to see why The Australian Dream, and not this, became so acclaimed and honoured. Because where that was balanced but assertive and with a strongly emphasised historical coverage woven into it, this one felt quite timid and even shallow to me. Maybe it's because subtlety often connects with me less, but I simply found that approach unsuitable to make for a powerful and motivating treatment of a subject as difficult and important as race relations.
Again, I am certain Darling and his collaborators meant well with The Final Quarter. But because of how they went about examining this very hot-button topic, it never emotionally (or even artistically) connected with me.
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