At the Cinema - August 2016

Gleason – 10

One after another they come – outstanding documentaries that tell us “You think you know, but you really don’t.”

Gleason is the latest.  It’s the astoundingly candid story of the journey of Steve Gleason.  I’m guessing most people don’t know who he is, especially if they are not part of the rabid group we call “sports fans.” 

So let me start here.  The New Orleans Saints are now in their 50^th year and only one player has a statue outside their stadium.  It’s Steve Gleason.

In 2005, there was Hurricane Katrina.  Previously known as the home of the Saints as well as several Super Bowls, the Louisiana Superdome become a refuge for thousands of displaced New Orleans residents, and it wasn’t a good host – it certainly wasn’t meant for this.  It became a symbol for everything that went wrong in the city during the flooding that followed that hurricane.  The Saints became nomads, playing in Baton Rouge and San Antonio, and for a while it seemed that the city would lose one of its most precious commodities, a football team that had never amounted to much; never really earned the zeal it generated.

It took a year to bring the dome and the Saints back, and they started the season 2-0 on the road behind an unknown new coach that was suspected to be the latest in a long line of dubious hires, and a cast-off quarterback who was recovering from a devastating injury.  They came home to their dome.  They beat the hated Atlanta Falcons that night.  That’s where Steve Gleason comes in.  In a scoreless game, Gleason stormed through and blocked a punt, and Curtis Deloach recovered in the end zone.  It was the first Saints score in the dome in over a year and that roar is the loudest, most emotional sound I’ve ever heard.  Everyone there that night would tell you the same thing.  The punt block is what is depicted in that statue.  It will be the first of many iconic moments that would be piloted by that coach, that quarterback, and that team that first made it to an NFC Championship game, then 3 years later won a Super Bowl.

But Steve Gleason wasn’t done affecting the world.  First he had to get real unlucky.  He retired, and was stricken with ALS – Lou Gehrig’s disease, and he began a health descent that he would chronicle on film for his unborn son Rivers.  It is from those videos that a most compelling story is compiled..  

I’m going not going to tell you what happens but I will tell you how it’s going to make you feel.

INADEQUATE – Steve Gleason has accomplished more since he lost his ability to speak, which he now does via computer, than most of us will do in a lifetime.  It has provided him an opportunity to substantially change health care and benefits for ALS victims.  He formed the Gleason foundation and it has been relentless.

ENAMORED – With Michelle, his wife.  Watching what she goes through and how she handles it, from a visit to a faith healer, to a devastatingly frank bedroom scene, to the day to day commitment, makes her a bigger star than any actress.  She is winning at real life. 

SYMPATHETIC – The no-holds barred approach to this documentary extends to Steve’s uneven relationship with his father who questions Steve’s faith, while questioning God on why this is happening. We’ve all had moments with our family that are tough, but they aren’t on film.

ASTOUNDED – At what they are willing to show.  The disease is graphically depicted.  There are times you just can’t watch, and there are times when you won’t believe what you are seeing.

THANKFUL – for what you have.  We live in a world where everyone complains constantly and social media allows us to bitch, bitch, bitch, but we have so much that we do so little with.

Steve Gleason does so much with so little that if you’re not moved by this movie, check your pulse.

You may have been dead for years.  As for Steve Gleason, he's got more to do.