Lenny Cooke (film)
| Lenny Cooke | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) Film poster | |
| Directed by | |
| Produced by | Adam Shopkorn |
| Starring | Lenny Cooke |
| Cinematography | Josh Safdie |
| Edited by | Benny Safdie |
Production company | Shop Korn Productions |
| Distributed by | Under the Milky Way |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Lenny Cooke is a 2013 American sports documentary film directed by Josh and Benny Safdie. It tells the life of the former high school basketball player Lenny Cooke.[1] The film had its world premiere at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2013.[2] It was released in the United States in limited theaters on December 6, 2013.[3]
Plot
[edit]In 2001, Lenny Cooke is one of the top ranked high school basketball players. He expects to be selected in the 2002 NBA draft, but goes unselected. After having played in a series of minor leagues, he quits basketball. He resides near Emporia, Virginia with his fiancée and his son.
Production
[edit]Adam Shopkorn, who set out to make a documentary film about a high school basketball player becoming the NBA player, followed Lenny Cooke around with several cinematographers in 2001.[4] Subsequently, he lost touch with Cooke.[4] In 2010, he went to a screening of Josh and Benny Safdie's film Daddy Longlegs and asked them to check the footage.[5] The Safdies agreed to join the project and started filming Cooke, which lasted nearly three years.[5] The film was shot by Josh and edited by Benny.[6] The Safdies took inspiration from the film Hoop Dreams, as well as the filmmakers Albert and David Maysles, Frederick Wiseman, Ross McElwee, and Shirley Clarke.[4]
In a 2013 interview with Complex, Cooke stated that he "enjoyed filming it."[7] He added, "Got some good points in it, got some bad points in it, but that's life and I hope the next generation of student-athletes take heed to it."[7]
Release
[edit]The film had its world premiere at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival on April 18, 2013.[2] It was released in the United States in limited theaters on December 6, 2013.[3]
Reception
[edit]On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 78% of 23 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10.[8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9]
Odie Henderson of RogerEbert.com gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing, "Until the last section, the Safdies do a great job selecting and editing footage that tells their story intelligently and passionately."[10] Scott Foundas of Variety stated that "Despite the stop-and-go production history, the Safdies have created a seamless end product, even as it evolves from the crude analog video of the early scenes to the more polished HD look of later ones."[11] Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave the film an A− grade, writing, "Despite the odd nature of the project, Cooke fits nicely within the stable of characters populating the directors' work."[12] Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a B+ grade, commenting that "It shares with their fiction work a ragged visual sensibility, a bittersweet worldview, and a low-key, moment-to-moment approach to drama."[13]
References
[edit]- ^ Luers, Erik (December 6, 2013). "Draft Scarred: The Safdie Brothers on "Lenny Cooke"". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ a b Kemmerle, Karen (April 15, 2013). "'Lenny Cooke' Directors Josh and Benny Safdie Explore What Happened to the American Dream". Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ a b Fuchs, Cynthia (December 9, 2013). "'Lenny Cooke' and What Might Have Been". PopMatters. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ a b c Rickman, James (December 6, 2013). "Josh and Benny Safdie on Their New Documentary, Lenny Cooke". Paper. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ a b Harris, Brandon (December 6, 2013). "Hoop Dreams: Josh and Benny Safdie on Lenny Cooke". Filmmaker. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ Bale, Miriam (June 20, 2016). ""For Every LeBron James, There Are a Thousand Lenny Cookes": Josh Safdie on Lenny Cooke and LeBron James". Filmmaker. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ a b Diaz, Angel (December 7, 2013). "Interview: Lenny Cooke and the Filmmakers of His Documentary Talk About LeBron, Their Process, and Lenny's Regrets". Complex. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ "Lenny Cooke". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
- ^ "Lenny Cooke". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ Henderson, Odie (November 29, 2013). "Lenny Cooke". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ Foundas, Scott (May 13, 2013). "Film Review: 'Lenny Cooke'". Variety. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ Kohn, Eric (April 18, 2013). "Tribeca Review: Safdie Brothers' Poignant, Fascinating 'Lenny Cooke' Not Your Typical Sports Doc". IndieWire. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (December 5, 2013). "More hoop dreams go unfulfilled in Lenny Cooke". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
External links
[edit]- Lenny Cooke at IMDb