Kobe Doin' Work (2009)

No basketball fan - or, for that matter, Los Angeles Lakers fan - should be caught dead without watching Spike Lee's Kobe Doin' Work. They won't only enjoy the film for its inclusion of slickly shot and edited basketball footage but will crave and embrace the commentary of the Lakers' star athlete Kobe Bryant, as he recalls tense moments of the game, interactions with teammates and opposing players, and certain motivations as he runs up and down the court.This documentary has the ability to captivate die-hard basketball and Lakers fans, but I question how it will hold up for the moderately curious viewers, like myself, who were halfway expecting a documentary concerning Kobe off the court and a day-in-the-life scenario. Almost anyone could turn on a TV, walk into a local bar (if people still do that anymore), or pull up on their phone a Lakers game and see Kobe in action. The first issue with Lee's Kobe Doin' Work is it gives us something we could already see and misses the golden opportunity of giving us something we otherwise couldn't.The film's selling point is the fact that Bryant himself recorded a commentary track for the game we're watching, which is against the world champion San Antonio Spurs on April 13, 2008. Lee tells us in a two-minute opening scene that Kobe permitted thirty cameras to capture his moves on screen and then proceed to record an engaging commentary about everything that occurred in that game. Lee seems so fascinated with Kobe when speaking about how he went about making this documentary and hanging out with Kobe, smitten by his kindness and his passion for the game. One wonders if anybody bothered to ask Lee would he act surprisingly out of the norm or in any other way except for positive if he had thirty cameras watching him and a documentary about to premiere on a huge network. While the access is pretty grand and the commentary is rather unique, one wonders how much of it is fabricated for the camera and if Kobe's thoughts are still fighting to get out, but are repressed thanks to better judgment on his behalf.What we have left to rely on is eighty-nine minutes of some fairly solid basketball footage, captured at multiple different angles and edited together with the unsurprising crispness I've come to expect with Spike Lee's documentary joints, especially after watching his most recent, Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth. But crisp editing and slick footage fades when you realize what's being edited together and slickly captured is of little interest to you as a whole. Kobe Doin' Work did nothing for me in the long run, and will surely be forgotten in passing days. Despite considerable efforts by Spike Lee to make this film broadly appealing, I can't help but feel this was a rejected idea for one of those brilliant ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries that Lee went along and made anyways.Directed by: Spike Lee.

Kobe Doin' Work is not your typical Spike Lee joint and it's not your typical documentary. However, it totally delivers because it stays true to its title: It simply lets you see what a game day is like from the eyes of Kobe.Needless to say, this joint is only for basketball fans. And if you love basketball, then you're gonna enjoy this a lot because you'll finally get a glimpse of what it takes to play at such a high level. Also, it was very interesting to see all the talk in the bench and in the locker room.Yes, Kobe comes off a bit too good in the film, but who cares? I didn't view this film to see Kobe on trial or something. And I wish there could be more films like this for other great players. Who wouldn't want Mike Doin' Work for example? Overall, a very interesting film.

Kobe Doin' Work is a sports documentary film directed by Spike Lee.It focuses on Kobe Bryant during one day of the 2007–08 Los Angeles Lakers season.The documentary follows Kobe Bryant during the 2007–08 NBA season throughout the April 13, 2008 game against the San Antonio Spurs. The 83-minute documentary ran on ESPN commercial free. Bryant granted filmmaker Spike Lee and 30 cameras unprecedented access to his life for one day.The documentary also focuses on Bryant and the team in huddles and during time-outs.Bryant provided the voice-over for the documentary on February 2, 2009, hours after he scored 61 points against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, a single-game record at the arena.You really have to like basketball to appreciate it. It's basically replaying a game with Kobe "mic'd" up and explaining how Lakers "do work". Shows Kobe's true leadership on the team.But still,one can be turn off on how talkative Kobe can be when narrating about himself and his experiences as an NBA player. One must really a big fan not only of basketball but of Kobe himself to appreciate it.

I watched Kobe Doin' Work last night. Probably wouldn't have bothered except for Spike Lee's involvement. There's some interesting stuff and comes close to a basketball insight once or twice. But far too many problems: First off, Kobe tries real hard to be likable and clearly he sees his voice-over comments as a PR exercise in image control. He's just too spotlighted and media-aware to really seem genuine. He also tends to talk down to the viewer, apparently assuming casual fans are watching, and so when he gets close to providing details he stops short (ie he talks about options and execution but almost never gets into specifics). Lastly, Kobe does want you to think that he co-runs the team with Phil Jackson (Kobe inserts himself back into the game in the 2nd Q of this game), mostly joshing about how he and Phil often share the same thoughts and understanding of the game. But why not add extra commentaries on the DVD. Would be nice to have a Phil Jackson track, a Hubie Brown track, maybe even a Bruce Bowen track as well, etc.Secondly, it's just one game with a zillion cameras on Kobe. I really think he loved all this attention but it distracted him and hurt his play. He seems really self-conscious on the court and especially on the bench.Third, since it's just one game, they chose an important late season clash with the Spurs. But Ginobili was out and the Lakes blowout the Spurs in the 3rd Q, so Kobe sits the whole 4th Q. Ooooops. Also, with Bowen defending him, Kobe mainly acts as a decoy. And as a final insult, Kobe turns out to have a bad game, with uncharacteristic turnovers, fouls, and missed shots -- with a handful of Kobe moments sprinkled in.Another problem is that it is the second to last game from two seasons ago (April 2008)-- the year the Lakes lost to the Celts, instead of the championship season last year -- so it's much less immediate now and the personnel is fairly different. You've got Kurt and Bowen, Sasha and Vlad. No Ariza nor Artest. At least Fish and Pau are there. But I'd much rather see an early season game from last season, which would seem more immediate and relevant than Game 81 from two seasons back. And since the camera focuses on Kobe in isolation or only with the defenders/offenders nearby, we rarely see plays develop, the ball, scores, etc. Actually the context including the score is largely missing. Sometimes I watch a game and will just focus on one matchup for a few plays or keep an eye on say interior D or whatnot. You learn stuff that way, but you also miss other parts of the game. For a whole game, iso-ed on one player is wearisome. A more interesting approach might have been to show perhaps the entire 3rd Q as broadcast on TV, and then re-show the 3rd Q as seen by isolating Kobe. So as luck would have it, Spike picked the wrong game, against the wrong opponent, in the wrong season, and the approach wasn't creative enough. I'd rec watching When the Levees Broke instead. And the next time you see the Lakers on TV, sit close, and set your eyes on Kobe only on both ends as much as possible and you've probably got a better game and better understanding, since you can shift your focus to the action as you choose.