Nowitzki: The Perfect Shot isn't the kind of sports documentary that drops bombshells like three-point daggers. The Mavericks' humble superstar, after all, has never been a bombshell kind of dude. He's too down-to-earth for heavy drama.
But the doc still manages to maintain a fresh, even eccentric tone that swerves sharply from typical NBA-sanctioned puffery.
If you've watched the Mavericks since Nowitzki joined the team in 1998, you've witnessed a remarkable cross-cultural sports saga. Gangly German kid comes to America with very little English language or NBA game in his repertoire. He works, and works, and becomes a freakish offensive weapon, a big man who shoots like a sniper. He shoulders a couple of epic franchise collapses and brings the team its first and only title. And he remains grounded and affable all the way.
The Perfect Shot does justice to its unique subject's stateside arc. But the film opens more eyes with its forays to Dirk's homeland and the attention paid to his longtime mentor, Holger Geschwindner. Geschwindner was an accomplished baller in his day, with a particular appreciation for the game's improvisational flair. "Basketball is jazz," he'd tell his former teammate Ernie Butler, who plays a little sax here to illustrate the point. Dirk was 16 when Holger discovered him. Former Mavericks great Michael Finley describes their pairing as "the mad scientist and Frankenstein."
We also spend time with Nowitzki's wife, Jessica, and his mom, dad and boyhood friends. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and head coach Rick Carlisle chime in, as does Kobe Bryant, who recognizes a fellow gym rat when he sees one.
But The Perfect Shot aims truest through its curvy detours. An analysis of Dirk's flawless free throw form leads to a visit with Tom Amberry, a 92-year-old retired podiatrist who sank a record 2,750 consecutive shots from the charity stripe. His connection to Dirk is tenuous, but it's still fun to hang out with him.
Some of the visual choices made by the film's German crew will make local viewers chuckle, especially the repeated rodeo motif (because nothing says 21st-century Dallas like a bucking bronco). But let's not quibble too much. The Perfect Shot might not be the perfect movie, but it's still a worthy profile of the defining Dallas sports star of this generation. And yes, you can take that with you.
NOWITZKI: THE PERFECT SHOT (B+)
Directed by Sebastian Dehnhardt. Not rated.105 mins. At the Landmark Magnolia, the Texas Theatre, and Studio Movie Grill Northwest Highway and Spring Valley.
