Unstoppable, from Amazon/MGM Studios, tells the inspiring true story of Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome), who was born with just one leg, but realized his dream of becoming an NCAA-level championship wrestler. Jennifer Lopez plays his mother Judy, who provides unwavering support and encouragement, while Don Cheadle takes on the role of his demanding coach at Arizona State. Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Anthony Robles and Mykelti Williamson also appear.
The feature was directed by William Goldenberg – his first time in that role - and shot by director of photography Salvatore Totino. Totino is a member of the Motion Picture Academy, American Society of Cinematographers, Association of Italian Cinematographers and The Directors Guild of America. He has worked with directors that include Ron Howard and Oliver Stone, and has a credit list that includes feature films such as Spider-man: Homecoming,
Everest,
Bird Box,
Any Given Sunday,
Cinderella Man and
Frost/Nixon. He served as the DP on
Concussion, which Goldenberg edited. Totino recently ventured into television by shooting six episodes of Paramount+'s
The Offer.
“I like to find stories that resonate with me - that have some meaning,” notes Totino. “Unstoppable is a true story based on somebody's life, so it had a lot meaning. I really want to bring a lot of realism into it. I want the audience to sort of feel what Anthony Robles was feeling. Billy (Goldenberg) and I talked. He wanted the whole project hand-held, and it was really important.”
The feature was shot over 32 days using Sony’s Venice 2 camera. While the story is set in Arizona, only two days were spent shooting there. Much of it was shot in Los Angeles, to look like Arizona. Additional locations included a short night-time shoot in Philadelphia.
“I really like the Sony camera,” he notes. “Because of the wrestling and all the close focus work…I felt the anamorphic wouldn't help us. I do like shooting projects anamorphic, but a lot of anamorphic lenses, the minimum focus is three feet, so that presented a big challenge and difficulty to be able to cover the wrestling. I looked at a bunch of spherical lenses and I really liked these Angenieux lenses…I went to Billy [and] I showed [him] what they look like. And he (said), ‘Great. Love it!’”
Totino says one of the film’s more challenging scenes to shoot involved an outdoor sequence, where Anthony’s college coach challenges his team to climb a rocky mesa in the desert heat - a tough task for anyone, but even more so considering Anthony’s disability. His tenacity pays off, and he earns the respect of both his coach and teammates.
“I really utilized whatever tools I could,” he recalls of the sequence. “We did hand-held. I had a drone. There were drones for big wide shots. But then a couple of times I used it for some tracking shots, which I wasn't originally planning on doing. When I realized we were running out of time, and how our day was going, it would help us out and immensely. When these things happen, you have to adapt.”
The wrestling competitions were also a challenge, and different than the sports-themed work he’d shot in the past.
“It's not like when I didAny Given Sunday/football or
Cinderella Man/boxing,” he explains. “The camera’s up higher. Wrestling's on the ground. It was really [challenging], like, ‘How we're going to tell the story of what's happening here?’ Because a lot of people don't really know. Wrestling is not a popular sport, like football or basketball…Visually, the camera a lot of times is three or four inches off the ground - all handheld, so operators are crunched over, bending over and moving the camera in and out, having to understand the choreography of the match.”
Unstoppable was edited by Brett M. Reed and will stream on Amazon Prime beginning January 16th.