Straight From Tribeca: ‘Run, Rickey Run’ Review

“I still don’t know as I sit here talking to you whether this is a product of him being bipolar or mentally ill or it’s a product of him being the only sane person out there and the rest of us worshiping the wrong things.”

– ESPN personality Dan Le Batard on NFL star Rickey Williams.

After watching the documentary “Run, Rickey, Run,” you’ll know a few things about Williams.

The guy is no prophet. Heck, he may have some serious emotional and mental problems.

But in the end, he’s trying to be a better person and he can still play football.

Perhaps that’s all anyone can ask from the dude.

Directed by Sean Pamphilon and Royce Toni, this film paints three sides of the former Heisman trophy winner. One being an enigmatic football sensation who was doomed to deal with his celebrity due to an abusive and demanding childhood, with another being  a selfish, egotistical stoner who’s lost in his own success and the last, a dedicated husband and father.

The only problem is that there seems to be a little too much favoritism on Pamphilon’s part towards the latter. In the beginning of the film, he states he was out to tell the whole truth about Williams’ walk-out on the Miami Dolphins because that’s what Williams wanted. However, Williams’ dark side is never fully exposed. Instead, the piece has more of an uplifting flavor, focusing more on the positive things in his life, such as his rise out of depression and towards family life.

Not that that’s a horrible thing, but after seeing Williams ramble for a few minutes in interviews and the state of his dilapidated home, you’ll want to learn more about his fall from grace. Hearing about his childhood and love life puts many things into perspective and you begin to learn why the speedster is the way he is, but you never hear too much about any of these developments from the man himself.

That above all else hurts the overall staying power of this documentary.

However, when things begin to get positive, Williams seemingly comes out of his shell and is much more willing to talk.

Strange, but human nonetheless.

In spite of this, Pamphilon manages the waves enough to create as close to a multi-faceted view of the Williams situation and paints him as realistically and hopeful as he can.

As well, regardless of its flaws, this documentary will enthrall you. It doesn’t matter if you are a football fan or not. A story of the human spirit, Williams puts the pieces back together as much as he can, considering he was never put together right in the first place.

Watching that process unfold is an enjoyable one and one that will attract you immensely, even if you don’t know that anything about football or that Williams is the only NFLer to have a six-year-gap between 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

When it’s all said and done, this is a story about a man who told the world to take him or leave him.

Ask anyone in Miami what their decision was and that’s your story.

Perfectly imperfect, there’s a little bit of Williams in all of us.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13820 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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