Rise & Shine, The Jay DeMerit Story

Rise & Shine, the Jay DeMerit Story is much more than a soccer movie. It’s a true life film that documents the inspirational battle of personal, and ultimately, team success. It takes the viewer along for the emotional ride, and in my case, brought tears of joy as the protagonist reaches his unreachable goals.

Rise & Shine does indeed tell the Cinderella soccer story of Green Bay native Jay DeMerit. But it’s also a story about an American overcoming international prejudice, a story about a rural kid winning at an urban game and a story about a stubbornly confident kid succeeding and leading those around him to success against all odds, with his indomitable attitude.

DeMerit was an athletic kid from American football’s Mecca pursuing a career in world football - soccer. He was told “no further” on every step of his soccer life. He refused to take that answer and instead finagled, conned (Jay says "We probably lied a bit and said we came from Fulham.") and most of all persevered his way to the top of the sport leading his team to promotion into the English Premier League and ultimately representing the United States of America in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The film shadows Jay chronologically from his competitive Wisconsin jock youth as an all sport athlete from a sports-minded family (his brother Todd says he comes from “a long line of gym teachers”) through his development at University of Illinois-Chicago. 

Legendary Wisconsin high school and college coach Aldo Santaga has a cameo understating his own role in getting Jay a scholarship to UIC. 

The Chicago years are documented with interviews of three of my friends and former colleagues – Mike Matkovich and Bret Hall (Bret: “He doesn’t lack the daring or courage”) who trained Jay with the Chicago Fire amateur PDL club and Bob Bradley who later selected Jay for the US National Team.

The film accurately states that Major League Soccer in general and the Chicago Fire in particular passed on Jay despite the opportunity to watch him develop at UIC and the Fire PDL team. As the Fire’s general manager at the time, I take the blame for not recognizing his abilities and taking a chance on him. I appreciated that Matko covers for me and the Fire in the film (Matko: “It wasn't the right place or right time. They had the players already.”). Truth is Jay was a local player we should have signed to a developmental contract and given a chance.

This rags-to-riches movie is most entertaining while showing Jay’s struggles as a virtual hobo eating beans and toast daily trying to catch his big break in England. Along for the ride was Keiron Keane, an English soccer pal he played with in Chicago and saw Jay’s future before most (Keiron: "He was raw but he had the potential and he could play.”). Jay’s mom Karen shares the concerns from the home front (Karen: “I'd just worry. As a mom, that's what we do," she said in her best Marge Gunderson “Oh geez” accent).

The first time directors Nick Lewis and Ranko Tutulugdzija do a fabulous job communicating those struggles without the benefit of original footage from that period. Instead, they use artful graphics of maps depicting Keiron and Jay’s journeys (crisscrossing the Atlantic and stops for trials or attempted trials in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp), personal photo montages, new footage of the alleys, parks and pub league fields Jay honed his skills on and dozens of interviews. Hearing from Jay, Keiron’s family who hosted them for more than a year, and Henry Weatherly, an Arsenal and Fulham scout who happened to know Keiron, moves the story along and serves to bring out Jay’s humility. It turns Jay into a likable underdog that you can’t help cheering.

You hear first hand about the “big” raise Jay and Keiron received at 9th Division Southall FC from a measly 40 pounds per game to a little less measly 60 pounds and a promised team bonus that was earned, but never came. There were many trials and empty promises including one with Oxford United that saw Keiron and Jay subbed into the match in the 87th minute giving them little time to earn an offer. The trials all led nowhere until the 7th Division Northwood club he had joined prior to the 2004-05 season played 2nd Division Watford in a preseason friendly exhibition. Jay marked their featured striker Heidar Helguson out of the match and caught the eye of Watford’s manager at the time, Ray Lewington.

That performance was Jay’s big break and earned him a two-week trial including a surprise start (He had to ditch the disposable camera he had bought to take pictures from the bench) in Watford’s exhibition against Spain’s 1st Division Real Zaragoza. A good showing in that match impressed the manager (Ray: “Do u have an agent?” Jay: “I lied and said ‘yes’”.  Ray: “Have your representative call tomorrow.”). He was finally rewarded with a one-year, 500-pound-per-week contract (Jay: “I would have done it for free.”) with Watford, a second division England “Coca-Cola Championship League” community-based club that is reminiscent of Jay’s hometown Packers. 

Watford’s success his second season there set the stage for the most dramatic moment of Jay’s career and created an early climax to the film.  Watford’s success put the Hornets into the League playoff vs. Leeds United in front of 65,000 passionate supporters at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in Wales.  The winner would be promoted to the English Premier League, which is worth 76 million pounds to the winning club and immortality to the winning players.

Using licensed footage funded by donors through the filmmakers’ Kickstarter site, and music that builds the excitement, the movie captures the emotion of Jay’s game-winning goal scored on a strong header off an Ashley Young corner kick.  I don’t think I was the only one in the sold out theater dabbing his eyes.  The culmination of Jay’s incredible journey would have made a perfect ending if this was not a documentary…but it is and there more hills to climb and triumphs to relate even if they are not nearly as dramatic as Watford’s promotion.

Jay’s second coach at Watford, Aidy Boothroyd, later named him team captain (Aidy: “He’s Rocky Balboa. Jay plays with fire, plays with enthusiasm and plays with energy.”), an incredible honor for an American playing on an English Premier League team with other veterans who have been with the club since childhood. 

The movie’s denouement comes off as drawn out and relatively anticlimactic compared to Jay’s role in Watford’s promotion. Much of the next steps in Jay’s incredible story are highlighted over a montage of newspaper and magazine articles from Chicago Tribune’s Luis Arroyave, Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl and others set to the music of Ollie Gabriel’s terrific “The World On My Shoulders”. Interviews with US National Team Coach Bob Bradley provide further testimony to what makes Jay special and his value to his teams (Bob: “He’s fearless. Confidence pays off. It spreads throughout the team.”).

This sets the stage for Jay’s appearance on soccer’s greatest stage, the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Interviews with Bradley set the stage for the first game versus England (Bob: “Jay epitomized attitude. He was responsible for tracking down (Wayne) Rooney.”).  Home movies from the team landing in South Africa and at the team hotel provide a unique behind the scenes look at the team. The set up was thin, however for the United States dramatic last minute goal versus Algeria that sent the United States to the top of their World Cup group for the first time ever. The locker room celebration captured on the home movies and clips of celebrations that broke out back home showed the joy that the team and the American soccer community experienced, but it lacked the dramatic feel the film provided earlier for Watford’s promotion.

The exit from South Africa after the disappointing loss to Ghana is followed by Bradley’s comments (Bob: “disappointed though heads held high”) leading to Jay’s final words in the film. (Jay: “I don’t believe in luck.  I believe in hard work.”)

The movie closes as it opened with the anonymous quote: “The poorest of all men is not one without a cent; it is one without a dream”

Making a film based on a soccer story appealing to a wide audience is not easy.  Lewis and Tutulugdzija did a splendid job balancing the necessary education for the uninitiated, while not insulting its core soccer audience by dumbing down the sport aspects of the film.

The score provided by Kush Mody though simplistic at times (banjo picking for Jay’s rural roots and punked up God Save Our Queen for move to England) more than served its purpose setting the tone and scenes aurally including the crescendo that built the emotion leading to Jay’s promotion clinching goal.

The credits recognized many of Kickstarter 1,937 contributors, which ran as an entertaining who’s who from the American soccer world.  Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers and Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo were also among the contributors.  There may have been others, but my editor’s eye picked up a few misspelled names during the film and credits: Brett Hall, Gregg Lalas, Grant Wall and Chicago Fire PDF should have been Bret Hall, Greg Lalas, Grant Wahl and Chicago Fire PDL.  These are minor laments, especially for first time filmmakers.  Other reviews of Rise & Shine ranged from the Guardian’s “compelling” to Variety’s “pedestrian”.

The story of the making of this film is equally compelling. The Kickstarter campaign raised $223,422, which was the most successful fundraiser for an independent film using the popular online donor program. Fresh out of college cinematographer Zach Salsman is plucked out of the rough and tumble free lance world and does a brilliant job working on only his second feature film. Co-director Ranko Tutulugdzija, an acupuncturist and teammate of Jay’s at UIC fought life threatening illness using eastern medicines and treatments in China before becoming an accidental director. He and Nick Lewis, an attorney by trade, were not planning to direct their film until the director they had booked backed out at the last minute.  Lewis and Tutulugdzija not only filled in, they did an award winning job as it earned the Rising Star Award at the Canadian International Film Festival. 

Jay’s journey is hardly over. He is finally playing in MLS as the captain of the Vancouver Whitecaps. He is playing in a league that I and others told him he couldn’t play in. 

Rise & Shine is an inspiring movie that captures the feel of Jay DeMerit’s miraculous climb from the bottom to the top of the soccer world.  You can view the trailer here.  Rise & Shine has screenings in seven Wisconsin Marcus Theatres next Monday, November 21.  Private screenings for soccer teams or groups are also available.  Information on screenings and tickets is available here.  If you get the chance to see this film, take it.  If you don’t get the chance, follow Jay’s lead and make it.