When the Game Stands Tall
It wanted to be Friday Night Lights but picked the wrong source of inspiration. It tried to be Remember the Titans but forgot its soul.
This was an absolutely dreary movie filled with wooden performances and stilted dialogue.
Jim "Jesus" Caviezel was a major problem. He played the role with all the joy and animation of someone whose best friend had just died while carrying his dead puppy from his burning home. He was supposed to be this great coach who led his team to a record 150-something consecutive wins, but there was absolutely nothing in his drab, monotone, mumbling, flat, dead-eyed manner that would possibly inspire anyone to perform well on the field.
An even bigger problem with this wooden film was the team we were supposed to rally behind.
It's really hard to tug on my heartstrings when a team that doesn't play by the same rules as the ones against which it competes wins 150 straight and then "oh, the humanity!!" loses two games so they can rally to win their eleventy fourth consecutive state championship. Seriously. This is who I'm supposed to empathize with and cheer for? Fuck those clowns. I was hoping they'd lose and lose some more. When the rich get richer, particularly when the rich are skirting the rules to do so? Yeah, that's some inspiring shit right there.
De La Salle, the team in the film, is a private catholic school that pulls in players from all over the place to compete against teams that have to abide by area restrictions. So a kid can bus for an hour to De La Salle or he can go to the shitty inner city school he'd otherwise be assigned to. Not every kid who wants to carry the rock can go to De La. They pick and choose who gets in. Jesus makes sure to proclaim in his super dour voice that his school doesn't give scholarships. Maybe not, but they most definitely recruit. Is that cheating? Maybe not but the playing field certainly wasn't level.
That begs the question: Is the lead character a great coach or just a great recruiter getting by on talent alone. I think the answer is probably a little of the first and a lot of the second. Regardless, it made it difficult to cheer for a team that wins by taking an unfair advantage. It's a little like feeling sorry for Alabama and making an inspiring movie because they came back and beat West Virginia after losing to Auburn and Oklahoma to end 2013.
Another issue I had with the film is the superficial message that if you play really hard and play as a team, God will bless you with wins. I'm sure the coach is a good guy and may walk the walk while talking the talk but there are a whole lot of teams and players who are devout, who sacrifice, who pour their sweat and blood on the field and still get that ass beat on a regular basis. "A perfect effort" isn't what created a 150-game winning streak. Stacking your team with talent poached from your rivals probably had more to do with it than God blessing your practice routine.
This was an incredibly dull film that was not elevated in any way by the subject matter, by the lackluster performances of Jesus and Laura Dern or by the hokey, schmaltzy manner in which it was presented.
I wish I hadn't wasted time on this. And I hope De La Salle goes on a 160-game losing streak.
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