They Call Me Sirr (2001 TV Movie) User Reviews

Sanitized, yet heartfelt and effective biopic

[vidalia15 · 7/10 · 7 November 2001]

They Call Me Sirr is the story of Sirr Parker's rise to football stardom, after battling a childhood that seemed destined to keep him a victim of both the poverty and crime around him, and of his own broken family.

Virtually abandoned by his mother at an early age, the film is tremendously effective in showing Sirr's inner conflict to pursue a promising football career versus staying home to care for his grandmother and younger brother. Mainly due to the support of his family and friends and his own growing need to realize his true athletic talent, he struggles to realize his dream.

The choice to make the film a mostly family affair was a good one, despite its sanitized look and feel. The lack of expletives and other expected profanities seems unrealistic. Yet, in its place we are given a heartfelt and extremely even story about a boy who is able to rise above the turmoil of the environment around him. Most importantly, it is a message picture for kids in attempting to show them that with hard work, perseverance and the caring people around them, it is possible to be successful in life, rather than succomb to the victim mentality.

Performances by all are noteworthy, especially Sirr's character, played with conviction by Kente Scott. Michael Clarke Duncan is also memorable as Coach Griffin, a man whose mission in life is to create only the best of players, yet human enough to attempt to help heal their inner wounds.

A memorable biopic with a soul.

not very memorable

[rockinghorse · 2 June 2004]

I enjoyed Michael Clarke Duncan in this, but I like him in anything.

This story, true though it may be, could just as easily have been about any other elite athlete. There are very few who do not come from the same place. A major difference, I guess, is that Sirr Parker dropped out of the NFL almost immediately. I don't know whether he was injured or just not good enough. A football player has got to be pretty weak not to last with the Cincinnatti Bengals. Maybe he'll ressurrect as Tommy Maddux did briefly after a long and obscure career in the arena league.

The actress who played Sirr's mother looked more likely to be his girlfriend, but maybe she was 13 when he was born. It happens.

I loved the Idea

[appleboxpics · 3/10 · 25 May 2013]

I loved the premise of the movie, and I love Michael Clark Duncan. But sadly not even Duncan could save the script. I wanted to like this movie throughout, but the script and/or execution of the story was plodding.

After 1 hour I thought I was 2 hours into this movie. Not a good thing.

But it is a Family friendly movie. No real awkward moments.

It is like the Blind Side, but not as polished and entertaining. I think they really under-used Michael Clark Duncan.

Actors were good. Just need to give them lines to deliver! Porch scene was the highlight of the actors doing their job. I actually felt like we were going somewhere.

Keep the last 15 minutes of the movie in tact and re-edit the first part and make it an hour long, and it would be much better.

This movie was a real feel-good movie!

[pinkygee · 9/10 · 30 June 2007]

I had never seen this and a lady in the Library told me to check it out. I did and I am in my'30's and I was inspired. My kids loved the movie and I did not have to bleep the movie. I was very impressed of how it all worked out but I live i n Cincinnati and I was not familiar with this story and I love Sports! Sirr I pray the best for you and I am glad you were so courageous to have this told! Cincinnati or not, I am rooting for you! Pinky

I had never seen this and a lady in the Library told me to check it out. I did and I am in my'30's and I was inspired. My kids loved the movie and I did not have to bleep the movie. I was very impressed of how it all worked out but I live i n Cincinnati and I was not familiar with this story and I love Sports! Sirr I pray the best for you and I am glad you were so courageous to have this told! Cincinnati or not, I am rooting for you! Pinky

Great model for our youth

[dali21001 · 9/10 · 18 April 2009]

I think this story was very wonderful and that more movies like these should be made to help out our minority youth have more hope and dreams to succeed. I did think that Sirr's mother looked too young, but I wasn't sure if she was meant to (teenage mom). I am not an expert on movie making or anything. I am just a regular movie viewer who happened to love the movie. It did, however, have a slow and confusing start. I was not sure what the story was about his mother. Sound wasn't too clear either at the beginning of the movie. I don't think it needed any more drama. The everything that happened was enough to wonder how one would have handled it. Some may think more drama was needed in the plot, but I think that it was just fine. I loved the movie. It reminded me of The Gridiron with The Rock. Truly an excellent story to tell. It sure beats all those stories that only send the wrong message to society.

RE: Scott Phillips

[ambritc-1 · 10/10 · 24 October 2005]

I agree with your argument about Sirr being a nice guy. Sirr played football for my home team (Cincinnati Bengals) and I just finished doing a movie with him and he was one of the most down the earth people on the set. A lot of times due to lack of funding, material or resources in general a project won't give the full effect that it could provided those other resources were available. Union restrictions sometimes play a part in this as well, with all the hype about runaway production. I still think if you focus on the general storyline, concept and the fact that it is a movie about a kid in the hood and it's made it to Hallmark and Blockbuster for other people in Hollywood and all over the world to see I think it's a blessing that his story ever got told and that he did get some recognition. Sirr, if you're out there, MUCH LOVE.

AMBRIT

MCD As Good Here As Green Mile.

[loveajna · 9/10 · 5 September 2005]

I recently caught this film on DVD. I was so impressed with the tone of this film... In that I mean that a film like this could have gone overboard, or become melodramatic at any point, but it never did. It handled the relationships very truthfully, the dialogue was solid, real and never forced. Kente Scott and Michael Clarke Duncan were amazing together. The two perfectly played off one another as coach and student forming a bond that was paternal by the end of the film. Each actor gave the other the room to shine and never gave a false moment. The supporting cast was also terrific, especially the comic relief of Martin Villafana and Alonso Oyarzun who seamlessly transitioned from comedy to drama. Check this movie out... It's well worth it.

Good idea, but could have been done better

[jdb-4 · 21 November 2001]

This could have been a good story but it's apparent that Canada doesn't have the actors or the resources to do a film that takes place in the hood. Michael Clark Duncan was good with what he had to work with. I didn't think it was a very good script, but it was a good true story. The kidd that played "Sirr" did an decent job. Aunt Jackie was good as well. The roles that suffered were the smaller roles. The thing about a film is that there are no small roles. Every role is a piece to a puzzle. If the "day-players" don't come off as pros your production suffers. The other thing about Canada is you can't do any big shots, because it doesn't look like where you're supposed to be. Know what I mean? And why was #34 playing quarterback? Those are some of the small things that make a film look legit. A director's mistake. Some films need to be shot where they took place.

Decent TV Movie

[rzmaslin · 8/10 · 27 December 2001]

"They Call Me Sirr" is decent TV movie with a good performance by Michael Clarke Duncan. Make no mistake, this is no "Boyz in the Hood", but I was entertained. Do not expect the type of plot development that we would find in a feature.

Summary: Bad dialogue, poor storytelling. Does a dis-service to the man.

[srp8621 · 23 July 2002]

I attended Texas A&M (where Sirr Parker played) from 1996 - 2001. I had the occasion to briefly chat with Sirr Parker and I believed then (as now) that he is one of the nicest, most sincere guys I've ever met. It was then with great interest that I rented this movie. As soon as I read it was about him, I snapped it up. Given that, I tried to like this movie. I really did. It just didn't happen.

For one, the chronology is at times hard to keep up with. This is especially true with when Sirr is in highschool. One minute, he's on the junior varsity team. The next minute, he's suddenly varsity. The next thing you know, he's starting. Verbal clues here indicate that THREE YEARS have passed (Sirr is now a junior). This is only compounded by the fact that Sirr's little brother NEVER GROWS UP! It's hard to tell when time is passing because the kid doesn't get bigger and doesn't age at all over four years. One big advantage of movies over the stage is the ability to manipulate time. Unfortunately, this ability is squandered here.

The dialogue is bad. Very un-natural. I don't fault the actors however. They only worked with what they had. If you give them "forced" drama to work with, you will get forced lines in return. Good dialogue will also create the plot (exposition). In this case, the dialogue did not sufficently express what the characters should have been feeling at that moment.

Finally, I'd never thought I'd say this but there needs to be some conflict and tension in the plot. Not an Armageddon-esque amount, but enough to help move things along. Yes, it sucks that Sirr has to watch over his brother WHILE working WHILE playing football. Yes, there is the alchie mom who comes and goes. There are plenty of conflicts, but each one seems to come up on a whim, and be dismissed just as easily.

It would appear that the screenwriter tried his best to give the viewer a broad vision of what Sirr went through. It's almost as if he felt pressure to jam it all into a two hour Showtime special. And in movies, as with techtonic plates, all that pressure means something has to give.