We don’t see a lot of sides to actor Michael Shannon. In most of his recent efforts, he’s played villains, working with his natural intensity to create appropriate evilness to help inspire screen heroism. He’s been consistent in these parts, but rarely surprising. In “Heart of Champions,” Shannon is meant to play a source of inspiration, albeit a person haunted by a dark past. Still, the thespian is stretching a bit, joining a Disney-style celebration of teamwork as screenwriter Vojin Gjaja tries to make the ins and outs of collegiate rowing exciting for the screen. Shannon is a major asset to the production, delivering expected severity with a side of benevolence, elevating a frustratingly pedestrian storytelling, with Gjaja much too reliant on cliches to connect the dots on this underdog feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com