Kobe Doin' Work (2009) (TV)

Director:

Spike Lee

Genre:

Documentary | Sport

Plot:

A documentary following Kobe Bryant during one day of the 2008 NBA playoffs. |

Cast

Lamar Odom	...	Himself
Kobe Bryant	...	Himself
Tony Parker	...	Himself
Pau Gasol	...	Himself
Phil Jackson	...	Himself
Michele Tafoya	...	Herself
Tim Duncan	...	Himself
Derek Fisher	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Game Day with Kobe (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

A Different Type of Doc

Kobe Doin' Work (2009)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Spike Lee's latest "joint" is a documentary following Kobe Bryant during one of his work days. Or, in a more detailed description, we see Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers playing the San Antonio Spurs in a basketball game from April 18, 2008. Lee was given the special privilege of getting to use nearly thirty cameras to capture the action, was given permission to film inside the locker room before and after the game as well as getting in there during halftime. The biggest twist to this documentary is that Bryant himself is doing an audio commentary. When I heard Lee was going to be doing a documentary on Bryant I was pretty excited but the end result isn't as great as I was hoping for. I was actually pretty letdown that there wasn't more here because this really seems more like an ESPN movie (where it played) rather than a Spike Lee Joint. Fans of basketball or the star are going to enjoy hearing his thoughts on playing basketball and even I will admit that it was interesting hearing his thoughts on the game. Hearing him comment on the teammates as well as the Spurs wasn't anything new but he does where a mic here, which gives us some great insight into what they discuss on the bench as well as on the floor. The commentary that Bryant provides goes into some nice detail about his thoughts on all things basketball. Hearing him breakdown plays is nice and Lee jumps in a few spots to ask questions. I think the film might have benefited with Lee jumping in more. The best stuff is the locker room scenes where we get to see some stuff we normally don't get to. I really enjoyed the halftime stuff, which to me was the highlight of the movie. The post-game stuff was nice as well. Again, this isn't your typical documentary but it is interesting enough for at least one viewing but if you're not a fan of basketball then you should stay far, far away.