My Review of "The Carter Effect"

The Carter Effect is a documentary on Vince Carter but more specifically Vince Carter's influence. It's interesting because if you aren't of a certain age you might not know the crazy popularity of Vince Carter back in the late 90's and early 2000's. I grew up seeing what Vince Carter has done for Toronto, the Toronto Raptors and Canadians in general.

I'm glad that they made this documentary because it's a story that has to be told. Vince Carter is still playing today albeit his last year in the NBA at the age of 42 as of 2019. It's remarkable to see a player reach that age and continue to play at an elite level. This just goes to show you the love that he has to for the game and what a humble person this guy really is.

Someone has to tell his story and the crazy influence that he's had on so many people. The NBA is a predominantly American organization and so a player from a Canadian team doesn't really make big waves on TV. This is also detailed in the documentary. So it took the Raptors ambassador Drake needed to step up and produce this documentary.

The documentary starts off describing Toronto's climate when their basketball team the Toronto Raptors were first introduced into the NBA. Reception was lukewarm and there was doubt that the franchise would stay in the city because ticket sales were waning. They were in desperate need of star power for the team but no one in the NBA wanted to play for the team.

They talked about the build up of the team before Vince Carter came to the team as they just drafted Tracy McGrady. The team was on the upswing. Despite the negative attitude towards Toronto, Carter was surprisingly optimistic to play for the Raptors.

For those that don't know, Carter was a superstar right out of the gate from his first year in the NBA. He basically put the Toronto Raptors on the map. He was an incredible player with incredible charisma to match. The film goes into depth about how he gave so much of his time and efforts to charitable organizations in the city of Toronto. He helped build basketball camps in Toronto and basketball parks that created future NBA stars.

In addition to this he had also created new ways of doing business in Toronto. He co-founded a night club that revolutionized the way night clubs do business in Canada by adding bottle service. He made Toronto the place to be for parties and events.

The documentary also goes into the ups and down of Carter's relationship with fans in Toronto. There's a lot of content in this film and I think that they paced everything pretty well. It doesn't go too much into Carter's life but focuses on the relationship that he had with Toronto and the fans.

I didn't understand why certain guest speakers were added to this film in terms of content. They talk about music but they should have focused on his effect in basketball, putting Toronto on the world radar and his influence on the city of Toronto. The music part didn't quite make sense but then when you understand that Drake had produced the film it makes sense why they had the guests in the first place.

This aspect of the film doesn't totally distract the audience totally so the film is still enjoyable. It does however is a diversion that may confuse some audience members.

Overall, it is still an enjoyable film and if you live in Canada, especially in Toronto you'll really enjoy it. Outside of Canada it might be an interesting film in terms of how one man can make such a difference to the basketball organization and put Toronto on the map as an international hotspot. I would have to give this film a 7.5 out of 10. Again I might be a little biased because I lived through the era they are talking about in the film and really enjoyed reliving the moments that they discussed.