Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac were two friends who grew up together sharing the common bond of basketball. Together, they lifted the Yugoslavian National team to unimaginable heights. After conquering Europe, they both went to USA where they became the first two foreign players to attain NBA stardom. But with the fall of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991, Yugoslavia split up. A war broke out between Petrovic's Croatia and Divac's Serbia. Long buried ethnic tensions surfaced. And these two men, once brothers, were now on opposite sides of a deadly civil war. As Petrovic and Divac continued to face each other on the basketball courts of the NBA, no words passed between the two. Then, on the fateful night of June 7, 1993, Drazen Petrovic was killed in an auto accident. This film will tell the gripping tale of these men, how circumstances beyond their control tore them apart, and whether Divac has ever come to terms with the death of a friend before they had a chance to reconcile.
Once Brothers is a deeply affecting ESPN 30 for 30 documentary that weaves basketball history with the tragedy of the Yugoslav Wars. The narrative arc — two friends torn apart by ethnic conflict before death cuts off any chance of reconciliation — is genuinely gripping and emotionally resonant, earning a strong Plot score. Vlade Divac's candid, grief-laden interviews carry real emotional weight, though as a documentary the 'acting' is simply interview presence and archival footage, landing solidly average. Cinematography is competent 30 for 30 standard — well-assembled but not visually distinctive. Novelty is moderate: the sports-meets-geopolitics angle is compelling but the 30 for 30 format was by this point established, and other entries in the series tackled similar themes. The Ending, centered on Divac's unresolved grief and the impossibility of closure after Petrovic's sudden death, is quietly devastating and earns its high mark.