The title of this short documentary refers to the number of points scored by the point guard (point guard) Jeremy Lin during a legendary game played by his team, the New York Knicks, against the fearsome Los Angeles Lakers on February 10, 2012. A personal record for the American with Taiwanese roots, a revelation on the NBA circuit who now plays on the Chinese professional circuit, having notably contributed to the championship victory of the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
However, as in the best documentaries, it is less a question here of sporting exploits than of human exploits. Written and directed by a director of Asian origin (Frank Chi), the film collects first of all the testimony of its subject, but especially of some of its fans: the actor Ronny Chieng, the journalist and producer Lisa Ling, the comedian Jenny Yang or actor Hasan Minhaj.
Their reflections on the success of Lin – we then spoke of “Linsanity” to describe the enthusiasm for the player, dubbed by President Barack Obama, a great connoisseur of basketball – all go in the same direction: this athlete , never drafted by a team from a chilly circuit to bet on an Asian athlete, has helped to break stereotypes around American citizens of Asian origin, those that whites maintain, but also those within members of their respective communities. . On Form, 38 at the Garden in no way renews the documentary genre, but the story opens our eyes to the reality of our friends with Asian roots, who recognized in Lin the one who made the unimaginable possible.
To see in video