Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
At the age of 34, former New Orleans Saints defensive back Steve Gleason was diagnosed with ALS and given a life expectancy of two to five years. Weeks later, Gleason found out his wife, Michel, was expecting their first child. A video journal that began as a gift for his unborn son expands to chronicle Steve’s determination to get his relationships in order, build a foundation to provide other ALS patients with purpose, and adapt to his declining physical condition—utilizing medical technologies that offer the means to live as fully as possible.
Gleason is a deeply affecting documentary whose strength lies in its raw, unfiltered narrative structure. The video journal format gives it an intimacy and emotional weight that few sports docs achieve — watching a man document his physical decline while simultaneously preparing for fatherhood is genuinely extraordinary storytelling. The plot earns a 4 for the way it organically unfolds around love, mortality, and legacy without feeling manipulative. The ending, watching Steve's relationship with his son develop despite his condition, lands with rare emotional power. Cinematography and acting (in the documentary sense of presence and authenticity) are solid but unremarkable — handheld, verite footage does its job without standing out visually. Novelty is above average given the personal video-journal conceit and the dual narrative of ALS and new fatherhood, but the documentary form itself is fairly conventional.