The Last Dance

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⭐ 10.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

I was probably harder on this documentary than most. I felt like it was a 10 hour Jordan Brand commerical, and I felt like there should have been more of a focus on MJ's personal life as the series didn't once mention the fact that he got married and had 2 kids. I also feel like it suffered from MJ approving all the footage and never allowed us a full look into the tyrant that was hinted at so often. There was a great opportunity to portray a complex human, but instead they just went the route of chalking everything up to him wanting to win (that's a VERY positive virtue in sports, for all you non-sports people) and spinning everything as a a net positive, all contributing to his god-like mythos.


But man, he was just such a magnetic figure and throughout and it made me constantly want to overlook the shortcomings. Everything about him is attractive, from the way he plays (or even runs down the court) to the way he works hard off of it, or even jokes around with his friends. His story is also wonderfully linear for a true story, with a natural villain (the Pistons), regular conflict (his dad's death, losing after his return) and a magical ending. The Father's Day scene was truly moving.


For a basketball fan, this is about as good as it gets.

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