It's very intense, very present day, and I liked it a lot.

| Dec 24, 2021

While not a perfect film, National Champions does express the discourse around an important issue in a compelling way.

| Dec 18, 2021

The message is still worth contemplating, but lacking a better vehicle to convey it, feels more deserving of analysis on sports pages than the entertainment space.

| Dec 11, 2021

He's fighting for compensation for other student-athletes, but other meandering, arbitrary plotlines keep slowing the story's momentum.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 11, 2021

National Champions devotes most of its time to a contest to see which of its multi-talented cast members can utter the worst dialogue or reveal the most absurd nighttime soap opera plot twists.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 10, 2021

[Mervis'] playbook of plot devices too often leans on gimmicky twists to propel the narrative: a lazy love affair; a conveniently covered-up crime; and a tragedy that drops out of nowhere.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 10, 2021

As timely as last night's episode of "ESPN Sports Center," and as riveting as a well-crafted tick-tock suspenser.

| Dec 10, 2021

"National Champions" is far from perfect, but it gives voice to a growing movement. It might make you think about Saturday afternoons a little differently.

| Original Score: B | Dec 9, 2021

The movie dilutes its impact with lackluster direction of samey scenes - people in hotel rooms speechifying - and a distracting nighttime soap subplot.

| Dec 9, 2021

It's bleak and brutal, and Waugh's cold tone leaves no one with clean hands. But as a testament to the costs of a noble sacrifice in the face of institutional inhumanity, it's as vital as any of his earlier films.

| Dec 9, 2021

An effective, gripping and thoughtful takedown of college football that takes a complex topic and does something unexpected with it.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 9, 2021

You don't have to be into football to appreciate the high-stakes struggle in "National Champions."

| Dec 8, 2021

Despite an outstanding cast, the characters never become more than mouthpieces for some very basic ideas.

| Original Score: C- | Dec 8, 2021

As a peek into the relationship between sports, media and capitalism, National Champions feels like a beginner's playbook.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Dec 8, 2021

Waugh wants to empathize with each character, or at least for audiences to understand their POV with the same clarity as everyone else's, and it muddles LeMarcus' perspective in a way that makes you want to throw up your hands instead of taking sides.

| Dec 7, 2021