ROLLING ALONG
by Karen Pecota

Mike Tollin, USA 2022

NBA star and US politician, Bill Bradley puts to pen life's lessons learned in his memoir, Rolling Along. Filmmaker Mike Tollin collaborates with Bradley, Spike Lee and Frank Oz to direct and produce the narrative, under the same name, for the big screen.

Bradley's memoir took three years to write and then put to memory. The goal was to create a one-man show, take it on tour, and perform it in front of a live audience in regional theaters across the country. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit and Bradley's scheduled live tour came to a halt. Plan B was then put into action–a documentary of Bradley performing his autobiography. A midtown Manhattan theatre was rented. Bradley performed to a live audience, while Tollin took advantage of his directorial expertise by using multiple cameras in order to make a unique but memorable feature documentary in ROLLING ALONG.

Tollin notes that when he was in the fourth grade, he read a book about Bill Bradley called A Sense of Where You Are. Bradley was an All-American basketball player at the time. He says, "It's remarkable that over fifty years later, I find myself directing Bill's oral memoir, ROLLING ALONG." Tollin was impressed with how vulnerable Bradley was in telling his story. Adding, "In his performance, Bill describes with the utmost candor his deepest fears and insecurities." The title Bradley uses is referenced to the small town (Crystal City, Missouri) where he grew up, located along the Mississippi River. As a teenager, Bradley would run along the river for sports training. At a certain point, he would stop to rest and look down river to watch the movement of the water that lazily rolled along. He'd always look at the river's movement and think "I'm not stuck where I am because I can get on a raft and go down river to a new place"--maybe similar to the thoughts of fictional characters, e.g., Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn. This imagery allowed Bradley to dream. His dreams materialized into remarkable accomplishments as his life rolled along.

Influenced by his parents, Bradley observed what they practiced--at home and in their small-town community.

His father, Warren, the local banker of a multi-racial, multi-ethnic factory town, was proud to acknowledge that during the Great Depression he never had to foreclose on a single home. Warren had a serious disability of the lower spine that hindered physical activity. His suffering had a big impact on Bill; and he recalls more of his dad's three specific words of advice: 1) Put your money in the bank. It works while you sleep; 2) You can never tell who paid back their loans or saved money by the color of their skin; 3) The most important thing in life is your integrity. Bradley's mom, Susie, of Scottish-Irish heritage, invested herself heavily into his upbringing and often shared these words with him: (in grade school) "Dance with the girls who never get asked," "You've got to learn how to lose, Bill, life isn't always fair," and "Never look down on people you don't understand." Bradley's grandfather, a German immigrant, often noted, "America is great because it's free and people care about each other.”

Bill says, "My parents wanted me to grow up to be a gentleman and have success; but, not a basketball player or a politician." The audience laughed!

Bradley's performative oral autobiography is one to glean from especially when his storytelling explains how he spent a lifetime of being categorized as "different"—in a negative sense. Bradley understands the impact of such a stigma. ROLLING ALONG, an unusual act of storytelling, will have you mesmerized for its duration. Bradley's journey pulls at your heartstrings, drawing both tears and laughter, while eloquently communicating deep thoughts to ponder.