Plenty of Heart in This Game
Written: Mar 14 '07
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Inspiring story and fascinating individuals. Great view of sports and teamwork.
Cons: Made on a low budget, but who cares?
The Bottom Line: The Heart of the Game tells an uplifting story about sports and redemption. It is a fascinating story to watch unfold, and no one should miss it.
|
|
|
| briankrakow's Full Review: The Heart of the Game |
One of the greatest things about documentaries is watching how the natural progression of everyday life can turn into an extraordinary event. Ward Serrill's The Heart of The Game is an example of this. What started out as a simplistic view of a girls high school basketball team turned into a mesmerizing tale about group loyalty and personal redemption. Twelve years after the classic Hoop Dreams, we have the next great sports documentary.
Narrated by none other than Ludacris, Heart of the Game follows Bill Resler, a tax professor at the local college who decides to apply for the vacant girls basketball coaching position at Roosevelt High School. Nicknamed the Roughriders, their team has not been very good in recent years. With little experience, Resler is not the best strategist, but what he brings is an energy and spirit that the team has been missing for a long time. Soon the Roughriders start winning game after game and become one of the most feared teams in the state.
Resler's strategy for the team is very simple. He has them run a full court press the entire game, and on offense the team is told to just "run like hell." One opponent remarks that it's hard to game plan against the Roughriders because even they don't know what they're doing next. This tiring offense requires a great deal of stamina, but his unique motivational techniques get the team fired up enough to accomplish it with success. The Roughriders do very well in Resler's first two seasons, but struggle in the postseason.
It's an old adage for documentary lovers to say truth is stranger than fiction, but that really is the case here. What was originally intended to be a documentary about one season in the life of the Roughriders basketball team turned into an epic 6-year project. The initial success of the team is more than almost anyone expected. After the first couple seasons, Serrill was motivated to continue making the movie because of a talented freshman basketball player who would be joining the Roughriders. Her name was Darnellia Russell, and her incredible up and down story would become the main focus of the film.
The Heart of the Game is essentially a basketball film first. However, when focusing on Darnellia's story class and social structures came into play. At one point, the state athletic association strips Darnellia of her eligibility and she has to fight to get it back. Serrill gives us glimpse into the thoughts of the local community by playing excerpts of a sports talk radio station where people are weighing in on the subject. There is a stark contrast in the values displayed by the community in this segment and the values of the team. At the beginning of the season, Resler asks the team to vote on whether or not to support Darnellia during her court case. Even though their support could cost them the entire season (they would have to forfeit the season if the athletic commission's decision was upheld), every member of the team voted to support her. This is a testament to the team spirit he instills in his players.
While the story of Darnellia's struggle is an inspiring part of the movie, it is not the whole story. With each new season, we meet a new group of girls. All of them are very interesting in their own right. They come across as very likeable, but also complex and you're right there with them at every game, rooting the Roughriders on. Serrill was also able to capture some very surprising private moments. As the Roughriders begin to take on one of their biggest rivals, we get a glimpse into the locker room of their opponents and see them stunned into silence by the energy they can hear from the Roughrider's locker room. Another time, we witness one of the players taking a phone call from her private instructor that strongly suggests an inappropriate relationship is taking place.
The Heart of the Game is a wonderful movie. Like all the best sports movies, it shows how sports can motivate people to work together and accomplish things they'd never thought possible before. Director Ward Serrill was able to stumble across a fascinating story. The narrative structure of the film works like your typical fictional sports movie, but as it approaches the big game at the end, everything comes together so perfectly that a fictional film would get laughed at for being unrealistic. The story of Bill Resler, Darnellia Russell, and the Roosevelt Roughriders is an inspiring one, and no one should miss it.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
briankrakow
|
|
Member: Larry McGillicuddy
Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 114
Trusted by: 59 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.