Review: ‘The Anderson Monarchs’ is one from the heart

AD edited; elders slotted

The new documentary “The Anderson Monarchs” takes on one of those classic stories — inner-city kids, dedicated coach, winning against the odds and learning life lessons in the process.

It follows the unlikely success of the Monarchs, a girls’ soccer team of 11- and 12-year-olds in Philadelphia and their soft-spoken coach as they fight for victories large and small. At the time, they were the only African American girls’ soccer club in the U.S. and take their name from the boundary-breaking African American contralto Marian Anderson, whose history and legacy is woven through the film.

Directed by Eugene Martin, who stumbled across the Monarchs’ story when he was coaching his daughter’s team, the modest film is uplifting and heartfelt, but it lacks the passion and the purpose that normally fuel stories like these.

There is no championship season to follow, just a series of what appear to be random games and practices. A big tourney at DisneyWorld in Orlando, Fla., that might have shaped into a turning point ultimately plays out like just another game.

The central figure here is coach Walter Stewart, and Martin doesn’t quite know what to do with him. Stewart is not a “give me 50 push-ups, run 20 laps” kind of guy. He is a divorced dad who misses his now-distant kids and turns to coaching as a way to make a difference in young lives.

He’s clearly a sweetheart, self-deprecating to a fault, though the film hints there is more to the man. Given that the Monarchs ended up with a Sports Illustrated nomination for team of the year a few years back, and all the girls have trophies galore, you know there must be. But the film doesn’t illuminate it.

The girls are a gregarious bunch, and their parents — a lot of single mothers in the group — are routinely supportive. The kids may be growing up in a tough neighborhood, where gunshots can cut a night practice short, but on the field they are characterized by their talent and sportsmanship.

The games themselves look a bit like home movies shot from the sidelines — the tension of those climatic moments when a win is on the line seems to elude the lens. The worst that happens to the Monarchs, at least as captured here, is that some of the girls are so talented that the more elite clubs in the area recruit them.

“The Anderson Monarchs” is the nicest of stories, but Martin fails to put into focus what is really at stake for the dedicated players or their devoted coach.

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‘The Anderson Monarchs’

No MPAA rating

Running time: 1 hour, 16 minutes

Playing: At Laemmle’s NoHo7, North Hollywood

betsy.sharkey@latimes.com