It’s less than three days until the National Championship game, when the undefeated Missouri Wolves will face off against the 13-1 Cougars in front of a sold out crowd at the New Orleans Superdome and 160 countries watching on TV. Coach James Lazor (J.K. Simmons, Invincible, Whiplash) has never won the big game, and this is finally the chance he’s been working for. All of his hopes are on his quarterback, Heisman Trophy winner LeMarcus James (Stephan James, Homecoming), who’s a shoo-in for the number one draft pick and a $35M NFL contract with Miami. However, LeMarcus and teammate Emmett Sunday (Alexander Ludwig, Heels, Vikings) throw everyone for a loop when they announce that they will be boycotting and sitting out of the game, unless the student athletes start being treated as employees with salaries and health benefits, rather than as a source of free, unpaid labor for a game that pulls in billions of dollars. With the kickoff looming—and LeMarcus gaining traction in the press and working on getting other players to join his boycott—the coaches, investors, and the heads of the conferences, the NCAA, and the CFP all scramble to do damage control to ensure the game goes on as planned, and their lucrative college athletics program continues to run as designed. As Coach Lazor makes a passionate appeal to his remaining players to stand by him, Katherine Poe (Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black), outside legal counsel for the NCAA, works on digging up dirt to discredit and take down LeMarcus and Emmett. Meanwhile LeMarcus and Emmett are also receiving some outside help, and have no plans to back down.

National Champions moves at a nice pace, with both sides anxiously trying to outwit and outplay the other. The writers have done a nice job of quickly getting to the core issue at hand, while also slowly revealing motives and twists on both sides. While much of the film is dialogue-driver, they keep things moving and exciting, often showing how much time is left until kickoff as a way to add to the tension. There is this nice back and forth to the arguments and reveals, which made me constantly question whom I should be siding with. One might say it’s simple and that the student athletes being “exploited” as free labor in a billion-dollar industry are in the right while the millionaire coaches and execs are evil. However, this is an interesting topic that doesn’t have a simple, easy solution, and the writers do a nice job of laying out some of those complexities, such as how football may just the tip of the iceberg, and how meeting LeMarcus’ demands could have further repercussions for student athletes in less-lucrative sports. The film was very thought-provoking in this aspect.

I am not really a sports person, so I have no idea how the whole college football system works, and thus didn’t completely understand the roles of all the various competing parties. However, with such a recognizable cast, it was still very easy to keep track of these characters and their goals. The two performances that really stood out for me were J.K. Simmons and Uzo Aduba. Simmons is always great at bringing out the vulnerability and emotions in his tough guy characters. Coach James Lazor is so close to achieving one of his biggest goals in life, and now that is being threatened. He may have loads of money, but he has also sacrificed everything to get to this moment, including neglecting his relationship with his wife Bailey (Kristin Chenoweth, Schmigadoon!). At the same time, he can be a bit hot-headed, and arrogant, believing that LeMarcus’ actions are all about him. Instead of trying to understand why LeMarcus is doing what he’s doing, he gets upset that this player is trying to ruin things for him. As a coach, he’s used to his players falling in line and listening to him, but that’s not the case here. When Lazor gives his impassioned speech to the team, you’re not quite sure if this is really him being raw and vulnerable with his players, or if it is just an act he’s putting on to try to win them over. Either way, Simmons really sells it. Another great performance/character is Uzo Aduba as the NCAA’s legal fixer. Katherine is a smart, intelligent, no-nonsense woman who knows how to get things done. However, she never makes things personal. It is always business, and she does whatever is in the best interest of her client. So if LeMarcus is going to play games, she is going to as well She’s very good at her job, and will get dirty if she needs to. I would totally watch a spin-off film following this character!

The film’s amazing cast also includes Lil Rel Howery (South Side) as Lazor’s defensive head coach, Tim Blake Nelson (Old Henry) and Andrew Byron Bachelor (Sneakerheads) as some of the team’s money men and influencers, David Koechner (The Goldbergs) as the head of the conference, Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) as head of the NCAA, and Timothy Olyphant (Justified) as Bailey’s latest secret lover and a professor at the university. While many of these actors are highly-regarded for their comedic roles, this film is not a comedy—though it does have a few laughs. However, all of the actors really deliver in these more dramatic roles.

The one place where I was a bit disappointed with the film is the final act. The first two acts do a nice job of exploring these characters and introducing some twists and thought-provoking discussions. There is all this build up and a big showdown, but then it finishes with more of a non-ending that doesn’t really resolve anything, and doesn’t feel very satisfying. In the final act the film also tries to set up this clever reveal moment that also ultimately falls a bit flat and feels like it never really served any purpose.

While the film has not been given a physical UHD disc release, the included digital copy will redeem in 4K on Apple TV, allowing viewers to stream the film in 4K. The Blu-ray release looks great, with a clean, detailed picture that has a pleasant level of grain. While the film centers around football, it is not a football movie per se. There isn’t any action on the field, but rather fast-paced dialogue in hotel suites and conference rooms. The audio track provides clear dialogue throughout and showcases the film’s very unique, almost choral and primal score.

The Blu-ray disc comes packed in standard HD keepcase with a cardboard slipcover, and contains an insert with a code to redeem for a digital copy of the film via Apple TV (it is not Movies Anywhere-compatible). Unfortunately, the bonus material consists of just three short featurettes with the cast and filmmakers, with a total runtime of just over 6 minutes.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:56:38)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Digital (code may not be valid after 3/8/2027):

• 4K Digital Copy redeemable via Apple TV (Not Movies Anywhere compatible)

Extras:

Play All, or select from:

• Behind the Music (2:09)
  Composer Jonathan Sanford talks about his own football past that mimics the story of the film, his inspiration, including voices into the score, and more.
• The Game (3:01)
  The cast and filmmakers discuss the themes/issues raised in the film, their own experiences with college sports, and more. Participants include director/producer Ric Roman Waugh, producers Greg Economou & Brendon Boyea, and stars Stephan James (“LeMarcus James”), Andrew Bachelor (“Taylor Sheridan”), Uzo Aduba (“Katherine Poe”), Tim Blake Nelson (“Rodger Cummings”) & Jeffrey Donovan (“Mark Titus”).
• Sports Trivia (:59)
  Do you know how long a football field is, or how many schools are in the Big Ten Conference? Can you name all of the Power Five conferences? See how your sports trivia knowledge matches up against stars Uzo Aduba, Alexander Ludwig (“Emmett Sunday”), Stephan James, Andrew Bachelor, Jeffrey Donovan, Tim Blake Nelson & Kristin Chenoweth (“Bailey Lazor”).

Final Thoughts:

National Champions is not your conventional type of football movie. Rather than showcasing gridiron action, it is more of a dialogue-driven thriller about the business of the game, with two players trying to fundamentally change the way the billion dollar business runs, and those who make all the money trying to keep things the status quo. As a non-sports person I thought the filmmakers did a nice job of keeping things exciting and thought-provoking, but ultimately failed to stick the landing, leaving things somewhat unresolved in a way that wasn’t very satisfying after all the build up. Universal’s Blu-ray features solid picture and sound, but the bonus material, while entertaining, clocks in at a total of just 6 minutes. I still think the film is worth a look as it features an amazing, highly-recognizable cast, some strong performances and some interesting discussions.