The poster may bill this film as the epic rivalry between half-pipe legends and childhood friends Shaun White and Kevin Pearce, but The Crash Reel is actually a study of a family coping with adversity. Like the champion snowboarders she depicts, director Lucy Walker displays perfect balance, presenting a touching documentary about traumatic brain injury and its effects, yet providing enough thrills and spills for the sport’s fan-boys.
A month before the 2010 Winter Olympics, Kevin’s gold medal hopes came to a bone-crunching halt when he crashed while practicing a double-cork 1080, critically injuring his head. Walker’s fascinating documentary tracks Kevin’s recovery from his devastating accident, following him as he slowly recovers from his brain injury – learning to sit up, talk, walk, and – incredibly – get back on his snowboard.
Walker brings together fifteen years of footage, comprising of early competitions, training in the lead-up to the Winter Olympics and amateur video of his accident and rehabilitation. The most striking footage however comes from the family camcorder; the Pearce family are the real stars. This documentary’s strength is its wide-ranging and candid access to all the family members: Kevin’s strong, matriarchal mum; the sanguine glass-blowing father; his supportive older brother who quits his job to be by his side. Special mention must go to Kevin’s brother with Down’s syndrome, David, whose forthright opinions on Kevin’s desire to return to snowboarding reveal that he can see something his brother can’t: that no sport is worth dying for.
Despite recovering physically, the second half of the film focuses on Kevin’s inner turmoil as he slowly comes to terms with what viewers know from the start – he will never again be what he once was. While the film contains breathtaking extreme sports footage, the drama really lies in Kevin’s acceptance that the accident has changed him. It’s an atypical sports story that says that having the courage to pack it all in is not losing – it’s winning.