National Champions

As timely as last night’s episode of “ESPN Sports Center,” and as riveting as a well-crafted tick-tock suspenser, National Champions adroitly avoids most of the pitfalls common to conventional “message movies” by raising and debating issues in the context of a solid and involving drama that can be enjoyed even by people who couldn’t tell an offside kick from a cheerleader’s cartwheel.

You don’t have to be into football to appreciate the high-stakes struggle in National Champions.

National Champions remains effective as an ode to cynical realism but it’s uneven at best as a slice of drama.

At its best, National Champions feels calibrated to provoke a conversation about the flawed framework of college sports, which is talked about plenty and still not enough. Then again, TV networks and sports-related media outlets benefit from the existing system, and many fans would rather just hear about wins and losses.

You need a blackboard full of X’s and O’s to keep track of the petty plays this movie's running.

This movie is all talk and no action. It’s a two-hour pregame show, with no game.

As a peek into the relationship between sports, media and capitalism, National Champions feels like a beginner’s playbook.