Ping Pong

Never Too Old For Gold: An Amiable Crowd-Pleaser About Living Life Fully, One Serve At A Time
When looking at a documentary feature, it is often difficult to differentiate the film from its subjects. I don't necessarily think that "Ping Pong," as a movie, represents very ambitious filmmaking. Its structure follows a very expected course, it might have benefited from a more in-depth approach to its subjects, and its editing doesn't particularly keep the film moving along. However, none of that matters. I suspect that "Ping Pong" enthusiasts will emerge to declare this an instant masterpiece. Why? Better yet, why not? The topic of the movie revolves around eight championship tennis table competitors from around the globe who are all past eighty years old. One is actually 100! As one of the other players states it, (and I may be paraphrasing a bit) "I'll be happy if I can stand up at 100!" Amen. And it is just this type of personal inspiration that will make this a crowd pleasing success. While so many people relinquish life's pleasures with age, these senior athletes...
Wonderful short documentary on a underpublicized world sport that attracts over 2,000 competitors (all over 80)
I love documentaries about uncommon sports because the filmmaker never knows how they will end. They are a lot more interesting to me than "reality TV" shows because the filmmaker can only edit so much - since they have tighter budgets than the big TV networks. Over the years I'm enjoyed documentaries on Crossword puzzle competitions ("Wordplay"), marching bands ("Drumline") and more. Watching "Ping Pong" was just as much fun. Yes, it's about table tennis - not the most exciting sport. BUT, this is the" International OVER 80s" completion held in China where all the competitors (and there are over 2,000 from over 52 countries!) compete. The reigning world champion is Australian Dorothy leLow who is 100 years old. (Yes, you read that right!). She needs a wheel chair to get around but put her at the end of a ping pong table and she is amazing. Co-Directors Anson and Hugh Hartford, introduce you to eight players - including one player who is given just one week to live - and follow them...

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