Review
YEAR OF THE YAO
Featuring Yao Ming, Shaquille O’Neal and Colin Pine
Directed by Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern
Opens Friday, May 6
Check listings
In 2002, the Houston Rockets were awarded the No. 1 draft pick in the NBA. For those who don’t speak sports, this is basically the equivalent of winning the lottery. It meant that Houston had first pick of any available player on the market. The Rockets, in a move that had players and fans collectively scratching their heads, chose Yao Ming, the seven-foot, five-inch centre from Shanghai, China.
It’s not that he couldn’t play the game – on the contrary, Ming was the superstar for the Shanghai Sharks. It was a question of how he would adapt from the game he’s used to, to the fast-paced, trash-talking, smackdown of a game played by the members of the NBA. Simple – he’d just hang out with the team, stay close to rookie translator Colin Pine and adapt.
Year Of The Yao is a harmless documentary that follows Ming in his first year with The Rockets. Because the film was financed by the NBA, things like rape trials and domestic disputes involving revolvers and fast breaks are not even mentioned. Instead we’re treated to Ming’s first Thanksgiving, Ming’s first photo shoot and his triumphant transformation from "waste of a draft pick" to supreme force with a killer instinct on the court. Within his first year, Ming overcame media scrutiny, culture shock and homeland pressure to succeed. (I’d say beating L.A. Lakers demigod Shaquille O’Neal and being given the coveted position of starting centre for the West in the 2003 all-star game would be considered a success.)
In the end, this documentary plays like a Ming highlight reel, which was cool for me because I love basketball. If you, on the other hand, aren’t a fan, then I’m sorry to say the fish-out-of-water element to this story isn’t very compelling. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see the reaction from his homeland. And the relationship Ming has with Pine is nice (until the moment when Ming goes back to China and then the way Pine can’t seem to say goodbye just gets kind of creepy).
Year Of The Yao could have been a better documentary had we seen Ming interact with the bad boys of B-ball off the court, but then, that footage probably wouldn’t have made it past the NBA spin doctors. As it is, Year Of The Yao is a nice, family-oriented story about overcoming odds – provided, of course, that the family in question adores basketball. |
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