When I decided on The Air Up There (1994), I figured there would be some problems. What I did not expect was to read that the Austin Chronicle, in its review, referred to it as “cultural imperialism.” I get it, though. A white guy, Jimmy Dolan (Kevin Bacon), shows up in a Native African village and saves them by teaching them to play basketball. That is somewhat of an oversimplification of the plot, but it is not too far off the mark. As a practicing Catholic watching the film, I was more interested in the roles that Father O’Hara (Dennis Patrick) and Sister Susan (Yolanda Vazquez) played in the story, but that has its own historical baggage that is a discussion for another time. Either way, I am here to tell you about a problematic sports movie that hits all the usual beats for such fare.

The Air Up There begins at St. Joseph’s University, an unabashedly Catholic school, where Jimmy is an assistant basketball coach still living partly on the glory of the school’s 1981 championship, a triumph represented by the ring he continues to wear. Jimmy hopes to succeed retiring head coach Ray Fox (Sean McCann), but his prospects dim after a prized recruit chooses another school. During a dinner featuring a film about St. Joseph’s missionary work in Africa, Jimmy notices an exceptionally tall young man casually playing basketball in the background. He calculates the player’s height from the image and becomes convinced that finding this mystery prospect could rescue his career. The mission school and church are run by Father O’Hara, a former Holy Cross basketball player, giving Jimmy a hoped-for ally. He therefore heads to Kenya despite Coach Fox’s skepticism. His first stop is Mingori, where businessman Nyaga (Mabutho “Kid” Sithole) assumes Jimmy has come looking for copper. Nyaga owns a basketball team, the Mingori Pistons, and boasts about winning money through high-stakes games, but Jimmy is interested only in reaching the remote Winabi village. After an arduous journey, he finds Father O’Hara presiding over a bingo game. Apparently, some Catholic traditions travel remarkably well. The priest identifies the player as Saleh (Charles Gitonga Maina), son of Winabi leader Urudu (Winston Ntshona), and Jimmy finally meets the young man he crossed an ocean to recruit. Saleh initially pretends to be a mediocre player before revealing that he is every bit as talented as Jimmy hoped. He would like to attend St. Joseph’s, but Urudu refuses to let his son leave because Saleh is expected to become a leader of his people. Jimmy responds with his usual aggressive recruiting tactics, which do little to impress either Urudu or Sister Susan, a missionary who knows the Winabi well and quickly recognizes Jimmy’s self-interest. Rather than leave, Jimmy remains in the village and tries to prove himself. He works alongside the Winabi, learns more about their customs, and helps prepare for the wedding of Saleh’s sister Beisa (Miriam Owiti) to Ntzuko (Eric Menyuk). He also learns why Urudu is so concerned about the future. Nyaga wants the Winabi land because it contains copper, and after Urudu refuses to sell, Nyaga’s men steal cattle and intimidate the community. Saleh’s brother Halawi (Ilo Mutombo) once tried to make a deal with Nyaga behind his father’s back and was banished. Jimmy begins taking the Winabi’s problems seriously, even selling his plane ticket and video camera to buy cattle for the village. His motives are not entirely pure, since he still wants Saleh, but Sister Susan grudgingly recognizes that there may be more to him than recruiting pitches. Nyaga escalates the conflict by attacking the village and stealing more cattle, forcing the Winabi to consider abandoning their land. When Urudu confronts Nyaga in Mingori, Jimmy insults Nyaga’s basketball team and boasts that the Winabi could beat them. Urudu seizes upon the idea and wagers the tribe’s land against the stolen cattle and a promise that Nyaga will leave the Winabi alone if they win. Jimmy is horrified that his mouth has helped put an entire community at risk, but Saleh promises to attend St. Joseph’s if Jimmy coaches them to victory. The Winabi team has enthusiasm but little organized basketball experience, so Jimmy begins teaching them the game. He discovers that their traditional skills can translate to the court, although his coaching methods are hardly subtle. When their point guard, St. George (Nigel Miguel), is injured, the Winabi ask Jimmy himself to play. Their rules require him to become one of them first. To make this happen, Jimmy undergoes an initiation that includes climbing a mountain and ritual scarification, finally accepting that he cannot merely use the Winabi for his own purposes while remaining detached from their lives. The climactic game against the Mingori Pistons begins badly. Nyaga’s larger, experienced team dominates physically, and Jimmy’s injured knee makes him vulnerable. The Winabi gradually adapt, using teamwork and their own athletic abilities rather than simply imitating American basketball. With the score close in the final seconds, Jimmy draws up a play to isolate Saleh against the other team’s best player. With the ball in his hands, Saleh uses Jimmy’s old “Shake-and-Bake” move to score the winning basket. The Winabi keep their land, recover their cattle, and celebrate their victory. Jimmy has also learned the lesson the movie has been telegraphing almost from the opening tip: leadership is not about making yourself the hero. Saleh later goes to St. Joseph’s, where Jimmy has become head coach.

For such a paint-by-numbers sports film, I was impressed by the amount of Catholicism in The Air Up There. Sister Susan’s presence throughout Jimmy’s transformation gives this Catholic reviewer something more interesting than the predictable sports formula. She does not save the Winabi, and neither does Jimmy by himself. Instead, she repeatedly forces him to see the people around him as human beings rather than opportunities, which is considerably closer to Christian service than crossing an ocean because you spotted a tall guy in the background of a missionary film. This is the kind of analysis that cuts across the usual cultural appropriation narrative that critics can fairly apply to this movie. It is also reminiscent of something Catholic missionaries have historically sought to do. From its beginnings, the Church has taken Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,” seriously. We see the Church wrestling with what this means almost immediately in Acts. At the Council of Jerusalem, the Apostles determined that Gentile converts did not first have to become Jews and observe the Mosaic Law in order to become Christians. As the Faith spread, the Church increasingly learned to proclaim the same Gospel among different peoples without demanding that every legitimate aspect of their cultures disappear. Catholicism calls this process inculturation. The Faith enters into different cultures, embraces what is compatible with the Gospel, and transforms what is not, all without compromising the word of God or violating His commandments. In doing so, the Church demonstrates that God is the Lord of all, no matter where you are born. It may not be an exact comparison, but Jimmy eventually learns that the best way to accomplish what is best for everyone is by becoming one of the Winabi rather than merely imposing himself upon them. The best that can be said about this process is that neither approach should consist of forcing oneself upon the people one is trying to convert, be it to basketball or Catholicism.

Speaking of Catholicism, we see Sister Susan in The Air Up There do a number of things one would not expect of a Catholic nun. Much of this is played for comedic effect, which is only one of many stereotypes in the movie. This, among numerous other reasons, is why it is eminently skippable.