Valuable not because of sebastian Telfair's ultimate triumph, but because of how effectively it contrasts his achievement with the plight of so many other aspiring athletes for whom the fantasy of a pro career ultimately fails to materialize.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 30, 2007

As exciting and involving as any well-made fiction film.

| Mar 1, 2007

Sebastian has the nice-guy charisma of Derek Luke and he's easy to root for

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 14, 2006

You know a filmmaker has done his job when his movie appeals even to people who couldn't care less about the subject.

| Original Score: B+ | Apr 2, 2006

An entertaining and compelling account of that year, even though most basketball fans will already know the ending.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 31, 2006

a side of basketball that often goes unrevealed

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 15, 2006

Hock's most illustrative footage is of the dazzling, sophisticated action found on today's high-school courts; the most obscene shows the execution of 18-year-old Telfair's $12 million endorsement deal with Adidas.

| Mar 2, 2006

Not just a story of a person but a story of a neighborhood, a city and a plan to escape.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Feb 24, 2006

It's a pleasure to see the articulate, disciplined Telfair succeed where so many other young men have failed, but ultimately his path to success is so smoothly upbeat that there isn't much urgency to it.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 18, 2006

Stylistically, it plays like an ESPN profile more than a serious documentary, but the issues and drama is all real enough -- and so is the big-league money.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 18, 2006

Even if the outcome is already known by those who follow basketball, Through the Fire makes for a suspenseful movie with an emotional climax that exceeds any fictional screen treatment of sports heroism.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 17, 2006

It's a must-see proposition for fans of basketball and a fairly riveting bit of social and economic history for everyone else.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 17, 2006

[Through the Fire] seems willing to beg off the tough questions in exchange for access.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Feb 16, 2006

A highly satisfying documentary.

Full Review | Feb 10, 2006

With a real-life athlete as talented and charismatic as Coney Island hoop prodigy Sebastian Telfair, almost any outcome would probably have made for good drama, but Hock lucked out when life provided a happy ending.

| Feb 10, 2006

Through the Fire is a well-crafted and illuminating documentary.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 10, 2006

An up-close, engaging and ultimately moving look at Telfair's family, his final high-school season and his decision to forsake college for the NBA.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Feb 10, 2006

Through the Fire fails to show indignation that rich white guys are trying to get even richer at the expense of a naive black kid from the ghetto.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 10, 2006

[A] superb, ultimately exhilarating account of Coney Island basketball phenom Sebastian Telfair's senior year at Lincoln High.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 10, 2006

The film's biggest accomplishment is that it is entertaining whether or not you know the outcome. Telfair's got the skills to play and market himself, and Through the Fire has enough game to make us care.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 10, 2006