| Sweetwater | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Martin Guigui |
| Written by | Martin Guigui |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Massimo Zeri |
| Edited by | Eric Potter |
| Music by |
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Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Briarcliff Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 119 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8 million[2] |
| Box office | $541,633[3][4] |
Sweetwater is a 2023 Americanbiographicalsports film aboutNat Clifton, the firstAfrican-American to sign a contract with theNational Basketball Association (NBA). Written and directed by Martin Guigui, it stars Everett Osborne as Clifton, withCary Elwes,Jeremy Piven,Richard Dreyfuss, andKevin Pollak in supporting roles.
The film was released on April 14, 2023, byBriarcliff Entertainment. At the55th NAACP Image Awards the film was nominated forOutstanding Independent Motion Picture.
Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton is the main attraction of theHarlem Globetrotters team, under the guidance of their owner and coach,Abe Saperstein. AsNed Irish, aNew York Knicks executive, and their coach,Joe Lapchick, take the initiative to integrate the team with support of NBA President,Maurice Podoloff. They soon join hands with the other owners of the league and create a historic moment.[5]
In December 2006, it was reported that Martin Guigui had been working on abiopic project about the career ofNat Clifton for the last ten years.[8] The project by Sunset Pictures was reported byVariety to begin production in April 2007 with Guigui directing from a screenplay he wrote.[9]Henry Simmons was attached to play Nat Clifton andRichard Dreyfuss to portrayAbe Saperstein, the owner and founder of theHarlem Globetrotters.Romeo Miller had also signed on to play a younger Clifton.Principal photography was set take place in the San Francisco Bay area and New York City that summer.[9] TheGreat Recession caused a delay production and by April 2009 filming was expected to start inWinnipeg.[10] Two Lagoons and Astra Blue Media were then attached to co-produce, along with additional cast members ofMira Sorvino,Kevin Pollak,James Caan andSmokey Robinson.[10]
By July 2014, some cast members had been replaced.[11]Wood Harris replaced Simmons as Nat Clifton,Nathan Lane would play Saperstein andJames Caan asNed Irish.[12]Brian Dennehy,Patrick Warburton andLudacris were all attached to star in undisclosed roles. The production budget was reported to be $10 million and filming was expected to begin in New York in late 2014.[11]
Production was subsequently completed by October 2022, with Pollak as Saperstein, Dreyfuss asMaurice Podoloff,Cary Elwes as Irish,Jeremy Piven asJoe Lapchick.Gary Clark Jr andBobby Portis make cameos.[5] Guigui andJeff Cardoni composed the film'sscore.[13]
Sweetwater was released byBriarcliff Entertainment on April 14, 2023.[5] The soundtrack album was released byCandid Records on the film's opening day.[14]
Released alongsideRenfield,Mafia Mamma,The Pope's Exorcist andSuzume, the film earned $125,000 in its first day and went to debut on $351,010 from 1,204 theatres, finishing 13th at the box office.[15]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 26% of 19 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10.[16] Audiences polled byPostTrak gave the film a 62% positive score, with 46% saying that they would recommend it.[17]
