John Calipari elicits strong emotions from people. People either revere him or revile him. There’s not a ton of gray area.
He looks at most people in a similarly polarizing fashion. Someone is a friend or foe, for him or against him.
That’s what makes “One and Not Done,” the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary that debuts Thursday at 9 p.m., refreshing. Jonathan Hock, an Emmy-winning director who has done several installments in the 30 for 30 series, didn’t approach the project to either deify of vilify the former UMass and current Kentucky coach.
Hock created a film that will convince different people of different things. He tells the story, the triumphs and scandals and lets the viewer see Calipari as both complicated and charismatic.
Most times with a microphone in front of him, Calipari is a disciplined politician staying on message, never straying far from his stump speech. The considerable access Calipari gave Hock allowed him to show the coach at times less polished and more human.
After seeing a showing of “One and Not Done” himself, Calipari said it was hard to watch. The vision of him through a camera lens showed him a little differently perhaps than he’d thought he came off.
Among the underlying themes of the documentary was the paradox that Calipari is. Viewers will see a man who seeks and thrives on conflict as well as someone who at the same time wants to be liked. He’s comfortable with the existence of a percentage of the population that will always despise him. But he’s seeking acceptance from the rest.
“There are as many if not more people that don’t like him as people that do like him. I think he would like to win over the middle, the non-committed middle. I think that’s part of why he did the documentary,” Hock said last month as a guest on the Gazettenet UMass podcast. “He will not change his behavior for you if you don’t like him, but he wants you to like him and it hurts him when you don’t.”
Despite his success — taking three schools to the Final Four, a national championship, induction into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame — it’s clear he’s still craving respect. He has a desire to be thought of in the same breath as Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Rick Pitino etc. He might already be there in some minds, but he hasn’t convinced himself that he is.
“He really, really, really, desperately wants to be thought of on the level of Dean Smith and certainly Pitino and Roy Williams,” Hock said.
The film has no narrator. The people interviewed effectively tell the story and provide the segues throughout.
For purposes of disclosure, I’m in the documentary. Calipari’s time at UMass is prominently featured in the film. I’m one of a large group of people who talk about that time. I have the distinction of being the least famous among the 30 or so people who appear on screen.
The title “One and Not Done” suggests prominent inclusion of Calipari’s controversial use of stud players who stay in college for just a year, and it certainly does delve into his philosophy on it. The segment on Dajuan Wagner is among the most memorable in the entire project.
But the documentary is really an extensive look at Calipari’s life and what led him to where he is now.
There’s plenty to interest UMass fans. The film did a good job of capturing the feeling of the Minutemen’s rise under Calipari and the disappointment of the way it finished. For people who lived through it, it will bring a lot of old memories to the surface. For people too young to remember, it opens a window to a time at UMass that’s hard to imagine without experiencing first hand.
At some point, maybe not far in the future, this documentary is going to feel dated. Calipari is very much Not Done. He’ll continue to win, pick fights and make news. More of his career is behind him than in front of him, but there figures to be plenty of story still to unravel.
It could make for an interesting epilogue.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage