Him Review: This Football Fear Fest Fumbles the Ball

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The world of football, with its high-stakes, deep fandom, and dark history of violence has always made it worthy of countless films. The hypocrisy, racism, and corporate greed showcase some of the worst of America's own flaws but...what if there was a Satanic element to it? No doubt Taylor Swift wouldn't be hanging out at games, amiright? That seems to be the conversation screenwriters Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie had writing Him, a movie that repeatedly tells its audience as if it's Kathy Bates in The Waterboy, "Football is the Devil!"

Initially a Black List script called The Goat--which is a far better title though both "Goat" and "Him" are used as nouns so often as to induce kidney failure if you drank--the film follows Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers). The alliterative prospective player is prepped to run The Combine, a series of exercises to showcase his skills to prospective teams, but is brutally attacked and left with a traumatic brain injury. Believing he's washed out, Cameron gets a second opportunity, to hang out with the Goat himself, San Antonio Saviors quarterback Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans). Cameron believes this is his shot to play for the team he's always wanted to, but as he spends the week in Isaiah's weird compound, he starts to wonder whether what he's experiencing is real or the result of his brain.

There's absolutely no ambiguity in this movie, so everything you assume about this movie is probably true. Is Cameron being prepped as some sort of religious figure? The movie is called "Him," the team is called the Saviors, AND the posters shown him in a crucifixion pose after all. What results is 96 minutes of training exercises, with the occasional jump scare--all in the "look [behind/under/up] vein"--thrown in. When that threatens to have you leave the theater Wayan and Withers scream in each other's faces about "sacrifice," "greatness" or other football buzzwords repeated so much they lose all meaning.

And this repetition is because there is barely any story to fuel that runtime, a scant hour and a half after all. We meet Cameron as a child, watching the Saviors, which causes you to do some math about the gap between a grown Cameron and Isaiah. We know Cameron's dad died, he feels some guilt, but, hey, who cares about character development let's play some Madden! And, really, the movie does play like a video game, with Cameron POV shots (in a helmet, no less), vibrating shaky cam, and what can only be dubbed as "X-ray" vision out of a Harmony Korine novel to illustrate Cameron's body and the trauma he endures. It's used so haphazardly though it plays more like an attempt to not showcase so much blood and gore in this already R-rated movie.

Withers is fine in the role, in the way most actors in a horror film are. He brings little personality to proceedings. He's got two modes: "pretty boy" and "big dumb football guy" and that's it. The real highlight is Wayans, reminding you "Hey, that guy did Requiem for a Dream!" Wayans is all dead eyes and roid rage in the role which does a lot to liven up the numerous training montages. An off-camera voice tells Cameron, upon entering Isaiah's Ex Machina-esque compound, "His fandom's like a cult." Hmmm, wonder what that means? But Wayans plays Isaiah as a man that's certainly earned that title, introducing himself with all the swagger and false humility of a guy who's stupid rich. For all the ways he can convey pride, he's just as terrifying when he's giggling at a guy getting a football thrown in his face.

But there's absolutely zero proper explanation for why he'd entertain the notion of training someone like Cameron. If this is a Devil's bargain is Isaiah the devil? Or simply a man given that choice? Who cares, says the script. Considering Wayans is over 50, odds are White wouldn't be playing football forever, leading to a third act battle where the outcome is obvious only because...what other way is there? At some point someone would ask questions about a 70-year-old sports star who still plays great, right? The script says, "Don't worry about that!"

Director Tipping certainly is a man who likes being extra, crafting a Ken Russell-esque finale that looks like a music video, Super Bowl halftime show, AND something out of Tommy all at once. But, again, there's absolutely zero meat behind it. The movie is petrified to make a statement that what Cameron is experiencing--devil aside, the fact that he's playing football with a traumatic brain injury is fueled by his (greedy?) family and an equally venal manager--is part of the systemic evil of football itself. As it plays, much of what's happening seems isolated to the Saviors, right? It's completely unknown and, had it been willing to go a bit further, who knows if it might have been a sharper use of its time.

Him is barely a movie. It's an extended video game sequence with a Satanic vibe to it. Wayans is good, but he's not worth making a point to see the movie. (Nor is Julia Fox, who appears to be making a batshit insane side film I'd actually kill to see.) Just shotgun a double feature of Any Given Sunday and The Devil's Advocate and you'll get the same elements told better.

Grade: D-

Him is in theaters Friday.

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