Champions

Wearing its uplifting intentions on its sleeveless jerseys, Champions almost dribbles out of bounds with its laugh-to-cringe ratio.

However, if you’re going to push the boundaries of good taste with an underdog saga about Special Olympian basketball players that aims to celebrate rather than mock, why does it adhere to such a well-worn game plan?

With thinly sketched characters and predictably corny plotting, the solo directorial debut of Bobby Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary) downplays its inclusion efforts by never enabling its title characters to command the spotlight.

The story follows Marcus (Woody Harrelson), a hot-headed Iowa minor-league assistant coach who is fired after an embarrassing act of insubordination during a game.

A subsequent run-in with the law saddles the disgraced Marcus with community service, which lands him at a local community center run by Julio (Cheech Marin), whose Special Olympics team called the Friends happens to need a coach for their upcoming season.

At first, Marcus sees it only as an annoyance while he tries to get his career back on track at the professional level. But his rough edges soften after meeting Alex (Kaitlin Olson), the sister of one of his players, whose influence prompts an attitude adjustment.

Harrelson does his best with a compassionate yet contrived screenplay, based on a 2018 Spanish comedy, that requires a significant suspension of disbelief right from the opening tip.

Beneath the surface, the film admirably promotes tolerance and open-mindedness over patronizing or pity, although too often it relies on quirks, stereotypes, and low-brow gags rather than genuine emotion or human connection. Trying to balance Marcus’ redemption story with the adventures of his ragtag proteges winds up depriving the latter of any meaningful depth or complexity.

Still, kudos are due the representative casting of about a dozen actors with various intellectual and physical disabilities, many without experience on screen yet proving to be legitimate scene-stealers. Kevin Iannucci, Casey Metcalfe, and Joshua Felder are among the standouts.

They help some of the transparent crowd-pleasing elements hit the mark, even during the cliched build-up to the big finale, which is padded with a parade of silly montages from the inspirational locker-room speech to unforeseen last-second obstacles.

More cloying than charming, Champions gives opportunities to those on the court while lacking substance for those rooting from the stands.

Rated PG-13, 124 minutes.