As a debater myself, I was intrigued when the local Cinevegas film festival was debuting a movie about debate. And here are my thoughts: I thought Thanks to Gravity did a great job of depicting debate in a more global setting. The writer/producer (Jessica Kavana-Dornbusch) was a former debater herself and I think she found a good middle-ground for the general public to follow along and for someone like me to think it was a somewhat accurate portrayal. Maybe it's me being selfish and wanting everyone to know what debate is, but this film felt at home with me.
I think this is the first film to depict women in the male-dominated activity of policy debate (referred to as team debate in the film), which is welcoming because the guy/girl ratio is about 4:1 these days. It also did a good job of depicting women finding themselves in general. Also the racial subplot of the main character being a Latina-Jew was interesting, and while the movie could have definitely expanded on that subplot, it did a good enough job of exposing my friend and I to that culture.
The cast while mostly unfamiliar to many excluding a few headliners like Sean Austin (LOTR) had great on-screen chemistry, whatever that is supposed to mean. The main actress, Gina Phillips, is not only breathtakingly beautiful but was well casted for her role. Overall, the movie also flowed well, which is one of my biggest complaints with movies these days, and I recommend it if you have a chance to see it.
