Sue Bird: In the Clutch

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

While I am not familiar with sports, Sue Bird is an interesting figure as she had some interesting stories and experiences about her sport life, queer identity and how she put a lot of effort into her works. However, this documentary fails to deliver because it becomes one of the most uninteresting, basic, and typical documentary that fails to dive deeper into what makes Sue Bird special.

Many of the conversations, interviews and themes explored wasn't strong as they felt repetitive, uninteresting, and unemotionally connected. The documentary tries to offer some interesting explorations about Bird but it really feels like a youtube made documentary that feels unfinished and pre-written.

I didn't really get much from this documentary and it doesn't really do a good job on what made her so special and why she is important. It just feels like some poorly made documentary made by the sports company to promote their brand honestly.

Overall, not a good documentary.

Excellent profile of a successful athlete at the end of her career. It follows Sue Bird's career from a very young age, thru her great run at UConn, Olympics and WNBA championships. Hearing from her parents, coaches, close friends and other famous players, we get to know the Sue Bird off the court. How she impacted the game and changed the conditions for players today.

Like the Roger Federer documentary, In the Clutch explores the agonizing decision to retire after an amazing career. What's it's like to walk away from a sport they have played all their lives and yet still have to reckon with the thought of living without something they love so much.

UConn, Seattle and the many fans of Sue Bird should really appreciate this insightful, sometimes emotional story of one of the game's greatest players.