Summary
The Champion is a decent sports drama that unfortunately undermines itself with an ill-advised climax.
The Champion (2024) isn’t a very good movie, but it’s a well-intentioned and likable one so I’d feel bad making fun of it. The from-the-ashes sports drama playbook is well-worn, and this Spanish Netflix movie does nothing to rewrite it, but I found myself being drawn in anyway, at least until an ill-advised ending leaves us with ambiguity instead of emotional payoff.
And to be fair I’ll have to make fun of it a little, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
The gist of The Champion is that it’s about a footballer, but not really about football. In fact, everything about it that pertains to football – from the business of the sport to the actual match scenes – is easily the film at its worst. This is important to keep in mind.
The footballer is Diego, a star player for Athletico Madrid who is beloved by the fans but despised by his own teammates. He’s a selfish player and, off the field, a selfish young man, obsessed with his wealth and success but utterly uninterested in being a better person or of much use – beyond financially – to those around him.
He’s also a hothead, leading him to a multi-match suspension for headbutting another player. His temperament stems from a few things, though mostly his testy relationship with his awful controlling father, Tito, and undiagnosed dyslexia.
This is where Alex comes in. Alex is a mild-mannered academic who is assigned to help Diego manage his anger so he doesn’t torpedo his future career opportunities. But he also recognizes Diego is dyslexic and possessed of a near-genius understanding of patterns, tactics, and strategy which is presently remaining untapped. So, Alex helps Diego to find himself, and in the process, Diego helps him to explore some of his own deeply-held anxieties and issues.
As you can see, this is closer to Good Will Hunting than Bend It Like Beckham, though that might be overselling things. Both Dani Rovira and Marcel Serrano are good as Alex and Diego, respectively, and their relationship is intriguing, but there’s nothing here that would rival Robin Williams’s bench monologue or the beloved “It’s not your fault” scene. The structure is undoubtedly reminiscent, though.
But let’s get into spoiler territory and talk about the ending of The Champion since the movie’s predictability is undone a little by a less-than-stellar climax that’s worth discussing in the context of the movie overall. If you haven’t seen it yet and would like to, then you probably should, since it’s a decent enough sports-adjacent drama, but don’t read on since there will be major spoilers from this point on.
The Ending of The Champion Undermines The Story
Unfortunately, The Champion tries to avoid the obvious and cliché ending by going a bit too far outside of the box, resulting in a wonky conclusion that lacks resolution and emotional payoff. It’s also a bit daft.
As a result of Alex’s work with Diego, Tito becomes unhappy that Diego is developing into his own man. To keep him under control he arranges a transfer to Manchester City behind his back, with Juanma pulling the strings and instructing Alex to stay away from Diego.
In his confusion, Diego injures himself by lashing out at Alex, which threatens to undermine things. However, Alex knows that Diego’s dream is to remain at Athletico Madrid throughout his career, so he defies Tito and Juanma to turn up at the stadium during an Athletico game that Diego is benched for due to the injury.
In a preposterous moment, Alex shouts from the stands and Diego hears him from the bench. Anyone who has been to any decently-sized sports arena knows how outrageously dumb this is, but seeing Alex is present compels Diego to demand that he’s subbed on. A cortisol injection helps to deaden the pain of his injured ankle, but he risks exacerbating the injury and tanking the Man City deal if he plays.
But play he does, helping to bring his team back level, although clearly at his own physical expense. With Alex having previously led a “Diego is not for sale” chant in the stands, Diego knows about the backroom transfer ploy by this point, but it doesn’t seem to matter as Juanma, in quite a sudden turnaround, screens a call from City officials, implying that he’s deliberately allowing the deal to fall through.
The Champion ends with Diego stepping up to take a deciding penalty, though we don’t see whether he scores it. We only see his expression, which finally seems content – a little unlike mine, but I was mostly laughing at the obviousness of the visual effects during the match scenes.
It’s a shame, this, since The Champion is a decent drama that was heading to a more resonant conclusion. However, this silly and over-the-top climax undermines a lot of the more solid work that came before.
Still, a 3-2 win for Athletico Madrid, I’m assuming. Can’t argue with that.
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