The Crash Reel is about Kevin Pearce’s experience as a snowboarder. He grew up in Hartland Vermont and took part in many snowboarding competitions. Shaun White is also a snowboarder and he raises Kevin’s expectations for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. In fact, Shaun White and Kevin Pearce have a rival type relationship that becomes complex. They both work hard on their competitive levels and know there are dangerous risks as snowboarders. Kevin wanted to be as good as Shaun White since Shaun won so many competitions since he was a kid. Kevin has trained in Park City, Utah and the Green Mountains of Vermont just to become a professional competitor. However, Kevin Pearce’s 2006 Olympic trial run landed him a bad accident and gets he gets a brain trauma because of a horrible fall. The film then focuses on Kevin Pearce’s recovery.  The recovery part of the film focuses on Kevin’s way of bouncing back which is also when the viewer is able to watch past scenes of Kevin’s snowboarding techniques.
    In this documentary, the music and some of the stories stood out. The music matched the emotions of the characters perfectly. The way the characters expressed themselves had a good foreshadowing effect so that there would be a more accurate prediction on what is happening next. This makes the storyline flow since all scenes were unexpected at certain points in the film such as the “flying tomato”. Shaun gets nine concussions throughout his career. Also, the actions in the film had good motion. I especially liked the scenes when the snowboarder starts off in regular motion then goes into slow motion. This adds vivid detail to highlight the tricks the snowboarder does. Some of the interviews really stood out for me. Towards the end of the film, the interviews from both Kevin and David Pearce were about their struggle to accept their brain disorder. David is an older brother of Kevin and has Down Syndrome which makes him anxious. Since Kevin’s accident, Kevin needed to realize that he is living in a new form of reality. David is trying to convey to Kevin that this brain injury could lead to death if Kevin falls again. What David says came from his heart and it shows that he cares about Kevin and doesn’t want him to get in another accident that was just as serious as the accident that caused Kevin to have brain trauma. Kevin’s brain injury made David realize that he had to accept the fact that he has Down Syndrome and needs to live with this disorder. The interviews set up the climax which was the accident of Kevin and the movie goes on to Kevin and David’s realization of their future.

    This film has a good amount of themes.  I would recommend seeing this film although there are drastic scenes. This movie can tell other kids with disabilities to accept who you are regardless of their flaws. Just because you have a brain disability doesn’t mean you are a bad person. You still have many strong traits that may not be related to athletics or academics. You can do other activities that you have desire in and improve in this activity. Another reason why I would recommend this film is to show an example of how strong rivalry can lead to tragic accidents. If you have not had a lot of experience in a certain sport, realize that there is risk. Kevin Pearce is an avid snowboarder and aggressively sets his goal to beat Shaun White. It’s important to beat someone a little above your level first then work up to the top. Lastly, this film has many interesting scenes that would inspire kids with disabilities and they can learn a great deal from this documentary.