Parents' Guide to The Unbreakable Tatiana Suarez

The Unbreakable Tatiana Suarez raises awareness of a female athlete's extraordinary achievement against seemingly impossible odds. But it's otherwise another generic sports documentary focusing on, as most of them do, obstacles that a dazzlingly talented and persevering athlete overcomes. That the film is routine and overlong in no way diminishes the exceptional drive, ambition, talent, and achievement of its subject, but it doesn't do much to enhance the viewing experience. The old clichés are all there -- the athlete training hard, the athlete perspiring profusely in plastic wrap and sweats to make weight, the athlete in rehab after injury, the display of x-rays, the talking heads extolling her virtues, the athlete crying as she recounts her hardships. All of this goes on longer and more repetitively than necessary to make the point.

But even the film's unimaginative approach can't suppress Suarez's star quality and dogged determination to overcome cancer and injuries that would end the career of less dedicated fighters. The bonus is that she serves as an inspiration to others as a successful female in a male-dominated field, that she is Latina, and that she shares her talent by coaching other women coming up in the sport. Somewhat underplayed is the violence of mixed martial arts. Many scenes show fighters with bloodied faces punching and kicking each other. She says she likes being a "powerful female," but exactly what it is that appeals to her about beating other people up is left unexplored.