Offers a formula-driven tale of down-and-outers-done-good with a gooey heart in the middle.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 18, 2024

Bobby Farrelly balanced out the sentimentalism with a sassy ensemble, led by Woody Harrelson’s reliably spiky energy.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 19, 2023

There’s a self-righteousness to Champions that feels entirely unearned.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Mar 14, 2023

The film fights hard to draw humour from the players’ often eccentric demeanours without holding them up to ridicule. For the most part it succeeds.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 13, 2023

What makes Champions a treat is the deftness with which Mark Rizzo’s script sidesteps sentimentality in favour of something more raucously truthful...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 12, 2023

Champions has its heart in the right place... It’s possible to admire the message, though, without thinking much of a movie that, Marcus’ aspirations notwithstanding, belongs in the minor leagues.

| Mar 11, 2023

Overall, Champions is endearing at times with some slow moments, but it’s a good movie if you’re a fan of the genre.

| Mar 11, 2023

Woody Harrelson offers a winning, low-key performance with a high feel-good percentage.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 11, 2023

This 124-minute movie is an English language remake of the 2018 Spanish film Campeones (Champions). It does have a few look-or-look-away Farrelly moments, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but overall it is a warm-hearted, feel-good movie.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 10, 2023

Champions is a forward-thinking film masquerading as a deeply conventional one. We can say we’ve seen it all before—but when, and where?

| Mar 10, 2023

It's shaggy around the edges and never quite takes full advantage of the formula it's co-opting. It's the kind of movie you want to root for more than you end up actually rooting for it.

| Original Score: C | Mar 10, 2023

Is it formulaic? Yes. Does it reach Kingpin heights? No. But Champion’s an engaging watch, and the ensemble of developmentally challenged actors upstages the pros.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 10, 2023

Yet with Olson’s carapace of toughness and Harrelson’s tenderness there’s a beautiful portrait of a tentative love match slowly flowering in middle age. They should have made that movie. Not the coach one.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 10, 2023

A cheering watch.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 10, 2023

It’s yet another one of those movies that pretends to be about a marginalized group but uses that group solely to contribute to the growth of some selfish protagonist.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 10, 2023

Olson's warmth and strong presence, and her excellent chemistry with Iannucci are the heart of the film.

| Original Score: B- | Mar 10, 2023

“Champions” doesn’t break any molds, narratively or aesthetically, and it’s too long, but what sets it apart are the Friends, who offer warm and nuanced performances

| Mar 10, 2023

The point about Champions is that Bobby Farrelly knows his business, which includes knowing when he can safely tug on our heartstrings and when it’s necessary to liven things up with, say, a well-timed bit of projectile vomiting.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Mar 9, 2023

As the runtime lumbers on to the two-hour mark, with one scene after another fizzling out, its warm nimbus of niceness seems to be the sole reason for its existence.

| Mar 9, 2023

Even though the plot is riven with clichés and as predictable as the tides, driven by a soundtrack of cheesy power-pop classics, by the end you just want to hug everyone in it.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 9, 2023