''Sweetwater'' is a 2023 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

sports film A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport or a sports-related topic is prominently featured or is a focus of the plot. D ...

about

Nat Clifton Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton (born Clifton Nathaniel; October 13, 1922 – August 31, 1990) was an American professional basketball player who was one of the first African Americans to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was ...

, the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

to sign a contract with the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). Written and directed by Martin Guigui, it stars Everett Osborne as Clifton, with

Cary Elwes Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (; born 26 October 1962) is an English actor. He starred as Westley in ''The Princess Bride (film), The Princess Bride'' (1987), and also had lead roles in films such as ''Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' (1993) and the Saw (fr ...

Jeremy Piven Jeremy Samuel Piven (born July 26, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ari Gold in the comedy series '' Entourage'', for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Emmy Awards. He also starred in the Britis ...

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss ( ; Dreyfus; born October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He emerged from the New Hollywood wave of American cinema, finding fame with a succession of leading man parts in the 1970s. He has received an Academy Award, a ...

, and

Kevin Pollak Kevin Elliot Pollak (born October 30, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and podcast host. He has appeared in over 90 films; his roles include Sam Weinberg in Rob Reiner's ''A Few Good Men'', Jacob Goldman in ''Grumpy Old Men ...

in supporting roles. The film was released on April 14, 2023, by

Briarcliff Entertainment Briarcliff Entertainment is an independent American film production and distribution company founded by former Open Road Films CEO Tom Ortenberg. Launched in 2018, the studio debuted with Michael Moore's documentary ''Fahrenheit 11/9'' as their ...

. At the

55th NAACP Image Awards The 55th NAACP Image Awards, presented by the NAACP, honored outstanding representations and achievements of Person of color, people of color in motion pictures, television, music, and literature during the 2023 calendar year. The ceremony was hos ...

the film was nominated for Outstanding Independent Motion Picture.

Premise

Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton (born Clifton Nathaniel; October 13, 1922 – August 31, 1990) was an American professional basketball player who was one of the first African Americans to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was ...

is the main attraction of the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

team, under the guidance of their owner and coach,

Abe Saperstein Abraham Michael Saperstein (; July 4, 1902 – March 15, 1966) was the founder, owner and earliest coach of the Harlem Globetrotters. Saperstein was a leading figure in black basketball and baseball from the 1920s through the 1950s, primarily be ...

. As

Ned Irish Edward S. Irish (May 6, 1905 – January 21, 1982) was an American basketball promoter and one of the key figures in popularizing professional basketball. He was the founder and president of the New York Knicks from 1946 to 1974. He was enshrined i ...

, a

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

executive, and their coach,

Joe Lapchick Joseph Bohomiel Lapchick (April 12, 1900 – August 10, 1970) was an American professional basketball player, mostly known for playing with the Original Celtics in the 1920s and 1930s. He is commonly regarded as the best center of his era, ove ...

, take the initiative to integrate the team with support of NBA President,

Maurice Podoloff Maurice Podoloff (; August 18, 1890 – November 24, 1985) was an American lawyer and a basketball and ice hockey administrator. He served as the president of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) from 1946 to 1949, and the National Basketb ...

. They soon join hands with the other owners of the league and create a historic moment.

Cast

Production

In December 2006, it was reported that Martin Guigui had been working on a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

project about the career of

for the last ten years. The project by Sunset Pictures was reported by ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' to begin production in April 2007 with Guigui directing from a screenplay he wrote.

Henry Simmons Henry Oswald Simmons (born July 1, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie in the ABC superhero drama series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2014-2020) and Baldwin Jones in the ABC police drama seri ...

was attached to play Nat Clifton and

to portray

, the owner and founder of the

Romeo Miller Percy Romeo Miller Jr. (born August 19, 1989), also known by his stage name Romeo (formerly Lil' Romeo), is an American rapper, singer, actor and television personality. He gained fame as a rapper in the early 2000s after signing with his father, ...

had also signed on to play a younger Clifton.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

was set take place in the San Francisco Bay area and New York City that summer. The

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

caused a delay production and by April 2009 filming was expected to start in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

. Two Lagoons and Astra Blue Media were then attached to co-produce, along with additional cast members of

Mira Sorvino Mira Katherine Sorvino (; born ) is an American actress. She rose to stardom with her performance as a prostitute in the comedy film ''Mighty Aphrodite'' (1995), which won her both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Academy Award for Best S ...

James Caan James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award an ...

and

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

. By July 2014, some cast members had been replaced.

Wood Harris Sherwin David "Wood" Harris (born October 17, 1969) is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his role as Motaw in the Jeff Pollack film '' Above the Rim'' (1994), prior to portraying high school football player Julius Campbell in t ...

replaced Simmons as Nat Clifton,

Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been Nathan Lane on screen and stage, on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Na ...

would play Saperstein and

Brian Dennehy Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles i ...

Patrick Warburton Patrick Warburton (born November 14, 1964) is an American actor. His live action TV roles include David Puddy on ''Seinfeld'', the Tick (character), title character on ''The Tick (2001 TV series), The Tick'', Jeb Denton on ''Less than Perfect'' ...

and

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

were all attached to star in undisclosed roles. The production budget was reported to be $10 million and filming was expected to begin in New York in late 2014. Production was subsequently completed by October 2022, with Pollak as Saperstein, Dreyfuss as

as Irish,

Gary Clark Jr Gary Lee Clark Jr. (born February 15, 1984) is an American guitarist and singer who fuses blues, rock and soul music with elements of hip hop. In 2011, Clark signed with Warner Bros Records and released ''The Bright Lights'' EP. It was followed ...

and

Bobby Portis Bobby Portis Jr. (born February 10, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Arkansas Razorbacks, earning consensus second-team ...

make cameos. Guigui and

Jeff Cardoni Jeffrey E. Cardoni (born January 10, 1972) is an American composer. He is a multi-instrumentalist who studied classical piano before playing drums and guitar in numerous bands, including a brief stint with the rock band Alien Crime Syndicate. He ...

composed the film's

score SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

Release

''Sweetwater'' was released by

on April 14, 2023. The soundtrack album was released by

Candid Records Candid Records was a jazz record label first established in New York City. Early Candid Records The CANDID jazz label was founded in New York City in 1960 as a subsidiary of Cadence Records, owned by Archie Bleyer. The jazz writer and civil righ ...

on the film's opening day.

Reception

Box office

Released alongside ''

Renfield R. M. Renfield is a fictional character who appears in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''.

'', ''

Mafia Mamma ''Mafia Mamma'' is a 2023 American action comedy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, from a screenplay by Michael J. Feldman and Debbie Jhoon, and based on an original story by Amanda Sthers. It stars Toni Collette as an American woman who tra ...

'', ''

The Pope's Exorcist ''The Pope's Exorcist'' is a 2023 supernatural horror film directed by Julius Avery from a screenplay by Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos, based on the 1990 book ''An Exorcist Tells His Story'' and the 1992 book ''An Exorcist: More Sto ...

'' and ''

Suzume is a 2022 Japanese animated coming-of-age fantasy adventure film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai. The film follows 17-year-old high school girl Suzume Iwato and young stranger Souta Munakata, who team up to prevent a series of disaster ...

'', the film earned $125,000 in its first day and went to debut on $351,010 from 1,204 theatres, finishing 13th at the box office.

Critical reception

Audiences polled by

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a fil ...

gave the film a 62% positive score, with 46% saying that they would recommend it.

References

External links

* * * * * {{New York Knicks 2023 biographical drama films 2023 independent films 2023 films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films 2020s sports drama films African-American drama films American basketball films American biographical drama films American independent films American sports drama films Biographical films about sportspeople Cultural depictions of the Harlem Globetrotters Films scored by Jeff Cardoni New York Knicks English-language biographical drama films English-language independent films English-language sports drama films Briarcliff Entertainment films