I went to a preview screening of Clive Owen’s new film “The Boys Are Back” this week and was amused by one of the key plot points and how it relates to current sports journalism.
In the film, inspired by the memoir of Australian sports reporter Simon Carr, Owen plays Carr who must deal with the recent death of his wife while trying to raise his seven-year-old son on his own. Things get complicated when his older son from a previous marriage moves in as well.
One of the key moments of the film is when Carr must cover the Australian Open but doesn’t want to leave his two boys on their own for two weeks. His plan – cover the entire event from home by watching the whole thing on tv. This almost works until his editor announces he will attend the men’s final and looks forward to seeing Carr there.
What struck me was the fact that because of live tv and now live online streaming, one really doesn’t have to attend a sporting event in order to cover it properly. Even the player press conferences are available online now. Of course, not being on site does limit one in being able to interview players or be close to a breaking story (especially if you want to break it).
In any event, the film does have some nice shots of Rod Laver Arena and the press booths. Having never been to the event (yet) it was a nice bonus to the film, which I have to say, was not as overwrought as I expected it to be. 3 and half stars out of five.
Here’s a link to the trailer.
Adjusting the Net 