DVD Corner's blog

Another Shot DVD Review

“Another Shot” could become a bad movie classic.

Written and directed by Larry Yang, “Another Shot” (AKA “My Other Home”) is a narrative dramatization of Stephon Marbury’s life and career that stars Stephon Marbury himself (he also narrates the film at times). While his successful but rocky NBA career is touched upon here at the start of the film, the story is all about Stephon coping with his father’s death while he tries to resurrect his basketball career in China. After a poor start, he tries to make things happen with the Beijing team. In typical sports movie fashion, the Beijing team has to defy the odds and beat the reigning champions (Guangdong).

When I first heard about “Another Shot,” I actually thought it was a documentary about Stephon Marbury’s career in China. Since it was a great story, I was interested in checking it out. Little did I know that “Another Shot” is not a documentary but rather a feature film starring Stephon Marbury essentially re-enacting events in his life (there is some archival footage albeit not much). Let’s just say it really should have been a documentary instead.

Right off the bat, it’s quite apparent that Stephon Marbury has very little acting skills. He makes Shaq look like an Oscar winner to be honest. Now, imagine having to endure an 85 minute feature film anchored by Marbury and you can guess how rough of a movie “Another Shot.” Of course, Marbury isn’t helped by the script whatsoever either. The whole thing feels like a corny, self-serving and egotistical project that glorifies Marbury’s popularity and success in China complete with basketball analogies, stilted dialogue that is “The Room” level bad, sports movie cliches, soap opera level drama, and goofy inspirational lines (“Champion!”). I frequently found myself shaking my head at what I was seeing because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing or that this movie even exists. With that said, the movie does have some unintentional camp value simply due to the ridiculously awful writing and acting.

Speaking of the acting, while the cameos by Allen Iverson and Baron Davis are fun enough for NBA fans, the cast is largely poor. Most everyone feels as if they are reading off cue cards (especially Marbury). The lone stand-out here is the Beijing coach played by He Bing who seems to be the only one turning in a believable performance.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 16:9 How does it look? Visually, the movie actually looks decent. The cinematography is probably the best thing about the entire film.

Audio Track: Dolby Digital 5.1. How does it sound? A bit flat but adequate.

The only extras are trailers for Well Go USA titles and a trailer for “Another Shot.”

May 13, 2019 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | Allen Iverson, Another Shot DVD Review, Baron Davis, Chinese Basketball Association, NBA, Stephon Marbury