The Playbook (2020) User Reviews

Excellent

[anthonydapiii · 8/10 · 4 October 2020]

Ubuntu!

The crew behind this docuseries embodied that in bringing this to life.

When you watch the docuseries you will understand, but overall, what a watch!

Such a great series on something we all are interested. The greats behind the greats.

Not deep enough

[pablo_moriano · 7/10 · 15 November 2020]

It's interesting but it could have gone deeper in some of the stories. Mourinho is shown best at Amazon's Tottenham insider for instance. I liked Jill Ellis' very much and the moment Doc Rivers tells his approach to Clippers' owner. The rest are OK. 30 minutes give a simple display but don't get through the whole stuff.

(8.5/10) The Playbook: Jose Mourinho

[El_Frank_MTZ · 8/10 · 14 April 2023]

This is an excellent depiction of one of the greatest football managers to ever grace the pitch. The documentary uses a great load of archival footage mixed in with current footage to create the atmospheres and deceive the character that is Jose Mourinho. We talk about character building a lot and this is an excellent example of character building and development that is done through accomplishments, VO, interview, and archival footage. The use of voice over is used to reveal what was going through Mourinho's head which allows for us to generate idea pf what the legendary coach was like to be around and to be coached by him. The sue of their coaching staff and players under him also created a general aura of what he was like as a person. I really enjoyed the lighting throughout entire piece it gave the whole thing a nice vibe and made it very easy to focus on the subject and the words that were being discussed. The run he had with so many teams make it a very nice touch in the piece because it adds credibility to what is going on allowing for Mourinho's words to have more of an impact. The use of graphics to back up what Mourinho's says an also a great attribute to the credibility of the doc and makes the coach look great. The doc does a great job in terms of sound design mixing in the archival footage with music, with VO it just takes a lot of balancing that I think was very well done by the producers. Mixing in great cinematography as well.

(9/10) The Playbook: Dawn Staley

This Dawn Staley documentary explains the psychosis of the amazing coach in a great way. It poses the story of how the coach got in the position that she is in and allowed for us to realize how the gamecocks grew this dynasty. Dawn focused on creating a beautiful culture and environment for players to develop and blossom. This is something that is thoroughly explained in the doc and an emphasis of it. I really enjoyed seeing the main narrative train be pushed forward by the subsequent narrative trains. It allowed for a clear and well throughout plan. The use of graphics as transitions and VO story telling is great in this doc. This is helped by when you have excellent story tellers at the mound. The more you get into the story the more in depth and creative the shots and spends get. I really like the parallelism in this and I enjoy the development of this narrative train. I really enjoyed hoe the documentary played on Dawn story and related her to the championship she won with South Carolina. The only thing that Dawn Staley was not able to do as a player she did as a coach and this is what made her an all-time great. This is a powerful story that the doc used as part if the narrative train. I think this was a great choice as it for sure allowed for the audience to relate. It appeals to our human sense of collective completeness.

Inspirational Tutorial

[damonstreetman · 10/10 · 11 November 2020]

Anyone who leads or influences people can benefit from this series regardless of their interest in sports, individual or team. It is a hidden gem that, once discovered, will be or should become required viewing for team leaders regardless of industry. Any wait for season 2. Thank you and kudos to all involved in its creation.

Jose mourinho movie star

[hend_gaffer100 · 10/10 · 31 October 2020]

I love the documentary. Especially mourinho's eposide. Attractive person should be an actor someday

Just amazing

[moralesjoshua-30396 · 10/10 · 18 November 2020]

Doc rivers is an abundance of great knowledge to live by. Wish his episodes was a series. Give it a watch. It's great.

Great show if you like sports.

[zsawork · 9/10 · 16 October 2020]

It's a great show highlighting the great coaches of this generation in all of the sports.

the story telling of every coach is different, it doesn't focus on starting from childhood and to being a coach but talks about the experience of the each interview ( coach ) and how they worked their way to be a coach since their childhood, meaning every coach had a childhood ability to be a great coach.

How to be a great coach

[soniasebastianamis · 9/10 · 17 July 2021]

Fab docu, didn't know most coaches featuring in this but they are presented in a way that makes their experience and insights universal.

Skip it!

[maanikroda · 5/10 · 4 October 2020]

Rivers is an ideal subject for The Playbook. He's among an admirably outspoken cadre of NBA coaches who aren't afraid to speak out about racism - a topic that sports fans, perhaps narrow-mindedly, find divisive. And now that the Black Lives Matter movement is increasingly embraced by the mainstream, including the notoriously conservative NFL, Rivers should be heralded as a pioneer. The show documents how he and then-wife Kris, who's white, were targets of racially motivated harassment, and how "skinheads" burned down his house in San Antonio.

Rivers addressed racism in the NBA as far back as 1994, in his book Those Who Love the Game. Maybe that's something The Playbook should have mentioned. Sticking to a 30-minute format sometimes renders the show frustratingly superficial, and instead of focusing tightly on one component of Rivers' experiences and hard-earned wisdom, it's a quick-hit catchall of his philosophies. The show explains Ubuntu as something embraced by African luminaries Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, but doesn't really get into how it's a spiritual, collectivist ideal that was key in South African's abolition of Apartheid. The Playbook illustrates how Rivers had the Celtics shouting "Ubuntu!" during pregame pep talks, and crediting the idea as a significant factor in their championship run, but oddly never makes the connection to the Clippers' show of unity in the face of Sterling's grotesque remarks.

Despite its superficialities, The Playbook is still reasonably compelling sports-doc TV. It strives for a broadly inspiring tone, and Rivers' story has it in abundance. Its commitment to profiling diverse international figures is commendable. Sure, it's a bit puffy, but its intentions are pure. And it's absolutely preferable to overly reverential tripe like HBO's faux-insider coach profile Belichick and Saban, which put the microphone in front of two old white guys who had nothing interesting to say about themselves or the world, probably because what they'd say would indict them as complete a-holes. In that context, bring on Rivers and Jill Ellis and Dawn Staley, please - and maybe next time, give them hourlong documentaries.