Jharrel Jerome, Jennifer Lopez in Sports Drama

Inspirational sports dramas usually share key elements: struggle, setbacks, perseverance, and hard-fought triumph. Even more effective if the film centers on a protagonist who is disadvantaged, financially or physically, to inject that underdog spirit. First-time director William Goldenberg has all of this in Unstoppablethe incredible true story of wrestler Anthony Robles, who was born with only one leg but never let that stop him from pursuing his dream. The special sauce here, however, is the bond of love and support through difficult times between Anthony and his mother Judy, played so touchingly by Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez.

Goldenberg is an Oscar-winning editor whose collaborations with lead producer Ben Affleck span from The child is gone through the past year Air. The latter is a fun take on a pivotal moment in Nike’s evolution, and there’s a nice continuum in the fact that Robles was the first athlete to sign with Nike after retiring from competitive participation in his field. This moving portrait of him will be released in select theaters in the U.S. and U.K. in December, streaming on Prime Video shortly thereafter.

Unstoppable makes a winking admission that it is not trying to reinvent the formula. A strategic positioning Rocky poster on the garage wall at home where Anthony works out is one clue; another is having him run on crutches up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, putting his foot in the imprint of Rocky Balboa's sneakers, embedded in the cement at the top. It's a potentially banal moment that instead has a captivating effect, typical of a film in which every tearjerker fully earns its emotions.

Adapting Robles' 2012 book, screenwriters Eric Champnella, Alex Harris and John Hindman trace the wrestler's journey from his senior year at Mesa High School in Arizona, when he became a national champion, to his quest, in his final year of eligibility, to win the National Collegiate Athletics Association championship, competing for Arizona State University.

It’s clear from the start that Anthony’s disability doesn’t earn him any pity points, and even clearer in the fierce tenacity of Jerome’s performance that what he wants is the exact opposite. He’s a young man with a firm goal in mind to become a champion so people will see his accomplishments first, not his missing right leg. He’s got unwavering support every step of the way from Lopez’s Judy, who never gives up on her son, even when she has her own unstable home life to manage.

Despite his impressive high school wrestling record and all the major college scouts seeing him in winning form, Anthony is rejected by his top choices, led by the University of Iowa, whose legendary Hawkeyes are considered titans in the sport. Both Judy and Anthony's high school coach, Bobby Williams (Michael Peña), push him to accept the full four-year scholarship offered by Drexel University in Philly, effectively the only school that wants him. But the strong-willed Anthony is hesitant given Drexel's complete lack of any NCAA wrestling profile.

Out of respect for Williams, Arizona State coach Sean Charles (Don Cheadle) agrees to see Anthony. But he is upfront with the kid that ASU already has a full roster of recruits ready to compete for the wrestling program’s 33 spots, and he says it’s highly unlikely Anthony will make the team as a walk-on (a non-scholarship player). But Anthony isn’t easily discouraged.

At home, Anthony's father has long been out of the picture. He's something of a hero to his four younger half-siblings, who were born after Judy hooked up with prison guard Rick (Bobby Cannavale). Anthony loves the kids but has a more contentious relationship with his stepfather, a braggart whose controlling streak comes out when he insists on the need to make choices in life. All of Rick's “real man” talk is exposed as a farce when it turns out he's failed the family in a way that could cost them their home. And his treatment of Judy increasingly sets off alarm bells in Anthony.

Goldenberg and the writers deftly balance the domestic drama with Anthony’s progress at ASU, where he works harder than anyone else in the tryouts and shows formidable determination on a grueling three-mile mountain hike, his crutches slipping more than once on the uneven, rocky trail. His endurance impresses Coach Charles, but it’s his willpower on the mats that ultimately earns him a spot.

Robles, now 30, doubles for the wrestling sequences in wide and medium shots, with Jerome inserted in the latter and completely taking over in the close-ups. The sports action is visceral and feels painfully real, the raw force of the crashes and flips likely making many viewers flinch. (OK, I did.)

There are the necessary threats of Anthony's dream being taken away, especially when ASU cuts the wrestling program for a year and it is reinstated with alumni donations but with a reduced team. It is at this point that the overwhelming support of Anthony's teammates becomes evident and as he begins to rack up victories, he becomes a crowd favorite.

The film could be accused of aggressively going for the tear ducts when Coach Williams hands out a box of fan letters from kids inspired by Anthony's example, encouraging Judy to read them and crediting her with raising an exceptional young man. Some of Coach Charles's dialogue toward the end of the film, acknowledging his failure to see Anthony's capabilities, also expresses in emphatic terms an awareness already evident in the warmth and deep decency of Cheadle's performance.

But any sense of emotional manipulation in the script is more than justified by the extraordinary human drama of Robles’ story. Alexandre Desplat’s delightful score, which ranges from Ry Cooder-esque guitars to soulful strings and soaring piano passages, brings a welcome restraint to this kind of film, perhaps knowing that Anthony’s authenticity can stand on its own, without the need for a laborious musical lift.

The contrast between Rick’s arrogant presence and the steadfast support of both coaches is touching, and both Peña and Cheadle nail the way their characters’ professions require them to be as much motivational psychologists as they are sports strategists.

The overriding relationship, however, is the mutually protective one between Anthony and his mother. After a couple of throwaway Netflix films where she basically played JLo in the frozen wilderness and JLo in space, Lopez sinks into the character here with a layered performance as Judy, full of pain, pride, bitter self-disappointment and then unexpected resilience and resourcefulness as she takes on the bank that controls their mortgage.

Some might argue that Judy initially seems a little glamorous for a coupon-scrapping mother of five in a family barely scraping by. But Lopez gives a tender and entirely convincing performance as a mother whose unwavering faith in her son is a crucial part of her foundation.

In his first leading role in a film, Jerome, who memorably showed the conflicted sides of teenager Kevin, the love of Chiron's life in Moonlightand won an Emmy for Ava DuVernay When they see us — is excellent. He gives the film a ferocious, beating heart, like a young man who remains vulnerable but refuses to be defined by what others perceive as his weakness.

Given the rules of this biopic subgenre and the fact that the title itself is practically a spoiler, there’s no doubt where the story is headed. But as Anthony obsessively watches videos of the undefeated wrestler destined to be his champion opponent—and cringe at the macho arrogance of his coach (Shawn Hatosy), who says, “In Iowa, we believe that second is the same as last”—it’s impossible not to root for this guy imbued with such extraordinary fighting spirit or be moved by his unwavering fortitude.

Goldenberg messes up with a brief coda meant to show how Anthony's accomplishments have been celebrated and continue to inspire, which seems both trite and unnecessary. But that little misstep doesn't detract from the rewards of Unstoppable.