MURDERBALL
R, 86 mins.

“I didn’t come here for a hug,” says one of the quadriplegic rugby players in “Murderball.” “I came here to win the f-ing gold medal.” That sums up the go-for-the-throat intentions of this documentary about the U.S. Paralympic Rugby Team. Its rogues’ gallery of players have no legs, some have no arms, and they all lack hand and arm functions, but they drink hard, get into fights, have hot girlfriends, and mock the Special Olympics.

The game itself, consisting of little more than racing their tricked-out wheelchairs up and down a basketball court and slamming into whoever has the ball, is barely watchable. It’s the supporting characters and the players’ lives that get your heart pumping and adrenaline flowing.

Mark Zupan has been in a wheelchair for more than a decade. He’s estranged from his best friend who not only walked away from the car wreck that crippled him, but was also drunk driving at the time. Joe Soares, a legendary American player and a “Great Santini” wannabe, sues his teammates and defects to coach the Canadian team.

Before you know it, the movie is following five different plotlines that spin out from the rivalry between hard-partying Team USA and the buttoned-up Team Canada, led by a vicious Mr. Soares.

When did documentaries get so good? “Murderball” is just one of a slew of recent docs that have sharper storytelling chops and more interesting characters than any fiction film from Hollywood.

Some viewers will avoid this movie because it’s a documentary about the handicapped. Their loss. “War of the Worlds” and “Batman Begins” have all the substance of a wet paper bag next to these gimp jocks in their wheelchairs.