2017 Sleepers
                                                       Part 3

Here’s a third batch of undersung 2017 films. Hope you will find one or two to try.
Although it won the Oscar as Best Documentary, I think many of you probably have not seen Icarus. It was a Netflix original and to my knowledge never appeared in theaters. It is a knockout! American amateur bicycle racer Bryan Fogel wrote, directed and is the main character in this incredible film. He wanted to find out how to cheat on the mandatory drug testing required of racers. He contacted Russian expert Grigory Rodchenkov who agreed to help him. Fogel then stumbled into the dark world of Russian athletes, almost all of whom have cheated on drug tests for years with the help of Rodchenkov and others. The film demonstrates how this is done and goes up to the point that most of the Russian Olympians were barred from competing.  It also goes up to the point that there is the suspicious death of two of Rodchenkov’s colleagues and he, with good reason, fears for his life. 
Right out of the gate, The Big Sick starts out with an absolutely terrible title. Don’t let that put you off. Kumail Nanjani plays himself. His very traditional Pakistani-born parents keep trying to interest him in an arranged marriage with women they introduce. He is not interested, but is interested in Emily (played by Zoe Kazan). He is a stand-up comedian and met Emily after she heckled him during a performance. Their ongoing relationship is rocky at best and she develops a serious illness (hence the quirky title). He is deeply moved by this and she becomes deeply moved by his faithfulness. Happy ending?
Miles Teller is the star of the troubling Thank You For Your Service, which deals with the problems soldiers have in returning home from a harrowing stint in the Middle East. He can’t seem to connect with his family or his old life and finds others who are in the same boat. 
Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American to be named to the United States Supreme Court. He is a legend for many reasons, including being the plaintiff’s attorney in Brown vs. Board of Education. But Marshall dwells on his early professional life and most of the film is about his experiences as chief lawyer for the NAACP in the 1950's. He went wherever his organization sent him to defend black citizens accused of crime. His defense of Joseph Spell, a chauffeur accused of raping his white employer’s wife, is the featured trial. Chadwick Boseman, who soon became The Black Panther, is just right in the title role. 
A Ghost Story is something of an acquired taste. What if those who die before us sort of hang around in our lives? This is the basic idea of this movie, which features the deceased Casey Affleck sticking around his departed life in a Halloweenish outfit nobody else can see. His widow, played by Rooney Mara, can’t see him either but she senses his presence. I can’t really explain why, but I found this offbeat little film quite appealing. 
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. But Icarus for some reason is quite hard to find.  All of the films are for grown-ups.