Kind of a Big Deal, a short animated documentary recently released by the Knowledge Network, provides a brief but compelling overview of national Olympic champion Christine Sinclair’s soccer career. Directed by Eoin Duffy and voiced by Ryan Reynolds, it explores the trials and tribulations of Sinclair’s journey from grassroots football to the top step of the Olympic podium. Touching on several key themes, including family, leadership, and gender pay disparity in professional sports, the documentary is both funny and thoughtful, helped by Sinclair’s insightful, albeit at times reluctant, commentary throughout.
From start to finish, Sinclair’s goalscoring record provides the backdrop for the documentary. With 190 goals scored for Team Canada, the Burnaby-born legend sits at the top of the leaderboard for most international goals ever scored. Sandwiched between animated clips of her first international goal scored against Norway and her final strike versus Trinidad and Tobago, the documentary masterfully weaves Sinclair’s personal and professional journey into one bite-sized story.
During her illustrious career, Sinclair was made captain of the Canadian women’s soccer team a role that she admits was at the beginning daunting.
“For the longest time at the national team, I felt like I was such a failure as a leader, because I thought I had to become something that I wasn’t”
— Christine Sinclair in Kind of a Big Deal
However, after accepting that while her approach differed from other leaders — who Sinclair noted are often louder — her approach to leadership was still effective and she and her team soared, both nationally and internationally. At the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo, under her leadership, Canada beat Sweden on penalties to win the nation’s first ever gold medal in soccer.
Despite this success, the men’s national team were still earning more than their Olympic gold winning women counterparts. After tirelessly working to change this situation, Sinclair and her teammates prevailed, with a collective bargaining agreement securing a short-term equal pay reached earlier this year. As captain and a national icon, Sinclair was instrumental in this victory for her and her teammates, underlining her leadership qualities both on and off the field.
Subtle references are made to Sinclair’s mother and her battle with multiple sclerosis during the documentary. Animated clips of Sandra Sinclair, or “mom,” are interspersed throughout the animation and her presence as a key figure in her daughter’s story is frequently alluded to. A segment shows a young Christine playing football in the park with her mom, and another reveals a picture of the pair in Christine’s locker during the 2011 World Cup. A final sequence depicts the pair holding hands together in hospital, with the closing credits touching on Sinclair’s work now as a champion of multiple sclerosis research.
Overall, this short animated documentary is a brilliant synopsis of one of Canada’s sporting greats. The extraordinary directing skills of Duffy are on display throughout, while Reynold’s narration balances lightheartedness with sincerity from start to finish. Neither, however, take the attention away from the unassuming Sinclair, who tells her story brilliantly. This is well worth a watch with the FIFA World Cup currently in town.
