Review: "High Flying Bird" is Another Slam Dunk for Soderbergh

Scene from High Flying Bird

In 2018, director Stephen Soderbergh released his first movie shot on an iPhone called Unsane. What could've played as a novelty ended up being the warm-up act for what's to come. Even as the film performed poorly, it gave the seasoned filmmaker a chance to explore technique and do something that few filmmakers had done before: make genuine art with an iPhone. With his Netflix film High Flying Bird, he not only gets it right the second time but also proves that it doesn't take big cameras to make a film that's highly compelling and expensive. All it takes is an innovator waiting to test new angles and long takes in favor of a story that needs fast motion. What he has created is a film that feels like the future of cinema. If he can make a cell phone take pictures that are this beautiful and film scenes with elaborate establishing shots, then who knows what else lies ahead not only for him, but everyone else.

In a lot of ways, Soderbergh's approach to the film is complimented by a sense of social placement. It's an era where everyone has a cell phone in their pocket, capable of snapping a video of something at the drop of a hat. It's an instinctive element that plays into this story about NBA draft picks as young talent is swooped up with soul-crushing contracts. There's rules and regulations to every move, and the feeling that a camera will capture the worst moment is constantly a threat to the story. There could be someone out of place, waiting to ruin millions of dollars in endorsement, ruining young players' chances at fame. Then again, that camera belongs to Soderbergh and his lens has rarely been more interesting and beautiful than when he first enters a skyscraper meeting, walking down a long hallway. It looks lush and flawless. It doesn't look like a cell phone video at all. Still, it's something that feels implicit to the voyeuristic approach to this story.

While there's some scenes of basketball playing scattered throughout the film, Soderbergh is more interested in the legal side of things. Think Moneyball, where Ray Burke (Andre Holland) is the negotiator fighting for his client's future. He's the one in board meetings and talking to coaches with the hope of making a difference. Every move is calculated, and it shows in Holland's performance as a man rich with confidence but a strong sense that everything can go wrong so quickly. It helps that he stars opposite a series of memorable co-stars that include Sonjoa Sohn, Zazie Beetz, and Bill Duke. While every character has a moment, it's mostly done through something more subtle. There's focus to wording that is impeccable and is done plenty of favors thanks to Soderbergh's ability to make the jargon all the more stylish and engaging. We're left feeling sympathy for Erick Scott (Melvin Gregg) as well as those who hold him in their future. He is just a pawn to them, and it makes one wonder what the true ethics of the sport are.

While there's tampering of other kind, this is a film whose technique is impressive on its own. It helps that everything else comes together in a beautiful collage of talent that reflects the best of Soderbergh. It's a compelling story with plenty of memorable moments and exchanges that leave the viewer with some profound insight into this otherwise dull piece of the sports puzzle. It's Soderbergh himself who has always been a fan of experimenting with film and making the art form something greater. Here he does that not by using a camera as something we've seen before, but as something we could be using it as. What will get taken for granted is the impeccable angles within a stuffy office, where Soderbegh is able to shoot from a corner where a camera mount would never fit convincingly. Because of the phone's shape, it's able to get into tight corners and present a world in ways that are more natural. Thankfully these angles still are artful, managing to create something realer.

The interests of Soderbergh continue to be what makes him one of the most essential indie filmmakers of the past 50 years. While he took a brief hiatus from filmmaking, he has returned with a burst of unexpected creativity that feels even more exciting and less formed. These are the films he wants to make, regardless of a studio system. Netflix feels like the perfect place to release a film like High Flying Bird, if just because it deserves to be seen by as wide of an audience as possible. It's an innovative title that should give guidance for how to shoot conventional dramas in unconventional ways. It should help to present young upstarts in the film making community with opportunities that they didn't notice. It helps that indie film is able to become more independent without losing its sheen. It rewrite the answer to who could make a film. After High Flying Bird, it seems like anyone can... and not just cheap found footage knock-offs.

High Flying Bird is another one of Soderbergh's best and it helps that the story at the center is such a compelling twist on the sports dramas that we have been seeing for decades. It doesn't ask the question of why we root for the underdog, but how can they survive in such a savage culture? Even if it's never addressed, the sense of this being shot on an iPhone allows it to feel more tense. Every move suddenly matters as accidents can lead to bad publicity. You don't have to love basketball to appreciate the film, though it will help add appreciation to the jargon and negotiation tactics that fuel the daily lives of these characters. It's an engrossing film and one that's just as beautiful. More than anything, this is evidence that we need to change our camera settings on our phones. The world is far too beautiful and interesting to just take fuzzy pictures and incoherent videos at bad angles. Soderbergh wants us all to strive for more, and we should.