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Review

Murderball, the former name given to quad rugby, is a highly competitive sport, played by men with keen minds and healthy egos, in supreme physical shape. They are all quadriplegics. All have lost the use of their legs and have limited use of their arms due to traumatic accidents and illnesses, but what they can control works perfectly. The testimony given by these guys is as frank as it gets: they relish talking about their prolific sex lives and enjoy comparing innovative lovemaking techniques. They play the game like gladiators in awesome, Mad Max-styled custom wheelchairs. Players get slammed hard, bounce out of their chairs, and quickly get righted and strapped back in. There is no time to feel sorry for oneself. This documentary has everything: thrilling competitions, grueling practices, hot romances, family melodrama, complicated lifelong friendships, hilarious moments and some of the most memorable characters in this year's festival. The rivalry that ensues between top-ranked Team USA (and its Captain, the scrappy Mark Zupan) and former team star Joe Soares, now the uber-demanding Coach of Team Canada, is exquisitely suspenseful. The matches are breathtaking, with exhilarating point-of-view shots filmed by cameras mounted on the chairs, and the material is expertly assembled by stylish, award-winning editing from Geoffrey Richman (formerly of Elkins Park) and Conor O'Neill. (English and Swedish with English subtitles)

 -- Jennifer Steinberg