Such is Life: The Troubled Times of Ben Cousins (2010)

Original title

Such Is Life - The Troubled Times Of Ben Cousins

Directed by

Paul Goldman

Genre

documentary

Country

Australia

Runtime

1h 39m

Rated

M

Rating

4.0 of 10 from 1 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary follows Australian rules footballer Ben Cousins from his rise to fame through a career derailed by drug scandals. It shows Cousins speaking openly about his drug addiction and its consequences, with interviews from family and friends.

rawcandidintimateconfrontingmelancholicpersonalunflinchingreflective

What happens

Such Is Life: The Troubled Times of Ben Cousins is a 2010 Australian documentary film about Australian rules football player Ben Cousins. Directed by Paul Goldman and filmed over a two-year period, the documentary charts Cousins' rise to fame as a star player for the West Coast Eagles and explores how his decorated career became marred by controversies, most notably a series of highly publicised drug-related scandals that resulted in him being sacked by his club and banned from playing in the Australian Football League (AFL) for one year. Cousins helped produce the documentary, stating that he hoped it would serve as a cautionary tale against drug use. It features him talking candidly about his drug addiction, taking various illicit substances, and associating with underworld figures. Among those interviewed for the documentary were family members, friends, and football and media personalities. Within days of Cousins announcing his retirement from the AFL in 2010, the documentary premiered on Channel Seven and was screened in two parts over successive nights, the first on 25 August. It was a ratings hit and went on to become "one of the most-watched documentaries in Australian history." Critics and audiences were polarised by the film with some calling it a harrowing portrait of Cousins' fall from grace, while others criticised it for glamourising his life of crime and excess. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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