Soderbergh doesn't seem to care if his characters are right or wrong; he just likes watching them struggle to assert their own value against an indifferent system — a corporation, a government, or a virus — even if that struggle costs them everything in the end. In his phenomenal new "
High Flying Bird," a Promethean sports drama that hums with the verve and purpose of Soderbergh's very best work, that system is the NBA. And it's profoundly broken. Not because the fans have stopped buying tickets, but rather because the old white men who own the teams want to feel as though they own the young black players, as well.
If Ray is to talk his way out of Tarell Alvin McCraney's sly and snippy script, he'll have to pilfer back enough power to change the rules to his advantage. One way or another, "High Flying Bird" will become a heist movie by the end.