Good afternoon, dear readers and fellow movie fans! Throughout the years I have been watching films on a regular (and ever-increasing) basis, the “Based On A True Story” genre continues to have its place in the offerings at the box office, more specifically those stories related to sports teams. And this is probably no surprise, as that is a medium where some very inspiring tales of perseverance over trials are found. And so with that in mind, I give you this review of the newly released picture, “When The Game Stands Tall”.
Directed by Thomas Carter, whose main area has been in handling TV series directing duties while also having given us films like “Metro“, “Save The Last Dance“, and “Coach Carter“, this true story film finds us in Oakland, California and following an initial recap of the town’s amazing high school football team, the De La Salle Spartans, who have accomplished an unreal feat in managing to accomplish “The Streak”…amassing 151 total wins in a row, with multiple championships included, and having attracted some of the best athletes around to play there. At the heart of this incredible effort is their coach, Bob Ladouceur (Jim Caviezel) and his long-standing assistant Terry Edison (Michael Chiklis). Establishing through it all that seeing the players under his coaching become men with heart and a sense of knowing who they are regardless of all the wins, Ladouceur still drives the boys to excellence and determination on the field and always instills a sense of values in them along the way. On top of this, college coaching offers have been placed at Ladouceur’s doorstep due to the notoriety he has received with the Spartans program, of which his interest in is little. With Bob on this journey is his wife, Bev (Laura Dern), and all the current players on the team in the time period the story takes place in, including Cam Colvin (Ser’Darius Blain), T.K. Kelly (Stephan James), Bob’s son Danny (Matthew Daddario), Beaser (Joe Massingill), Tayshon Lanear (Jessie Usher), Arturo (Matthew Frias), and his star running back Chris Ryan (Alexander Ludwig). As the start of a new season comes about, the story shows the various circumstances several of the boys are going through, with Cam & T.K., lifelong friends who have had a certain dream since childhood that is on the cusp of happening, Chris having to deal with a possible record being broken by him and the pressures put on him by his overbearing father Mickey Ryan (Clancy Brown), Danny being the coach’s kid and simply the overall weight of having to keep “The Streak” alive. When the local school division coaches gather to throw accusations at the De La Salle program and the legitimacy of their prowess, a decision is made to play a game that ultimately changes the entire course of all the boys and Ladouceur, as the results cause them all to suddenly question EVERYTHING they’ve been doing and the motives behind it all. Futures are questioned, doubts arise, the brotherhood between the players that Ladouceur has worked so hard to make prominent with the team begins to unravel, and an initial health scare makes things seem even more dire. Add to this ANOTHER unforeseen blow, and it appears it WILL all get lost in a wave of frustrations and second guessing. But Ladouceur has worked too hard to see it all fail, and through tough love, inspiration, hard work, and motivation, a team of young men learn to fight through it and ultimately make decisions that determine their course, both individually and as a team. Further details would constitute the dreaded spoilers, which will NOT happen on this site (for as much as I can help it!), and so ends this portion of the review.
As I mentioned above, there have been several of these true story sports films throughout the years, especially about football in particular, with well-done efforts including “Remember The Titans“, “Invincible“, “We Are Marshall“, and “Gridiron Gang“. And personally, I would rank this film up there with those, because I cannot get tired of being inspired by the true fortitude and courage it takes to seriously overcome the daunting odds and pressure that are born out of victory, then tragedy, then rising up again, refusing to ULTIMATELY let even the direst of setbacks keep you down. On top of that, the human aspect of the bond of friendships and brotherhood that IS formed in these fires. This is also a testament to the coaches of these kids who even while dealing with their OWN struggles with the events that are occurring, choose NOT to give up on the players but rather, if necessary, MAKE them realize that life DOES have so much more to offer than just what is put on the field each week, than all the wins in the world, that what is continues to come back to is seeing what you as a person are made of and what you are willing to fight for and how hard. These themes never get old for me, and again, I found them just as potent in this film as I did those others mentioned above. Jim Caviezel is one of my favorite actors, and he just has a manner in the way he plays his roles that makes him so believable. It’s very understated, yet full of genuine emotion and energy. Chiklis and Dern are both very solid as Terry and Bev respectively, and again, help to lend that “everyman/woman” sense to the movie. And of course, the kids themselves are all very well cast. It was interesting to see Ludwig in particular, only due to the fact I am used to seeing him play another type of tough individual, Ragnar Lothbrok’s son on History Channel‘s show “Vikings“. But ALL of the young actors carry their roles well, and just seeing the portrayal of the lives these kids came from and the adversity they faced is impressive enough in itself. I also appreciated that the film wasn’t constant football action, as it took the time to really dive into the character’s stories BEYOND the field in the times of difficulties and choices being made, and that lent that human aspect to it all as well. And the basic ideas about faith as well that were presented also added a nice touch of hope in the film during those times of wondering how events were going to improve. “When The Game Stands Tall” is, like those others, a movie you go into actually knowing the end result (even when not having read anything about the real life story) and yet you can still not help but get swept up in the whole thing, because I believe these stories DO speak to our own internal sense of possessing that drive to overcome circumstances and push to our dreams, but do it knowing we are NOT alone in the struggle and that we DO have faith, friends, family, and in these cases as Coach Ladouceur stated, “60 brothers”, who we can truly grow with and turn to in order to see those mountains fall and success come about.
As always, this is all for YOUR consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
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