One of the best feelings in the world is when a movie causes you to leave the theater inspired beyond belief, ready to tackle any obstacle, your mind swimming with the best quotes. “When the Game Stands Tall” was not one of those movies.
The movie, released on Aug. 22, is based on the true story of the De La Salle football team, a high school team located in Concord, California that had a winning streak of 151 games, the longest in history. The film opens with the team sharing deep feelings prior to their last game of the season. The movie mainly focuses on the loss of the team’s streak, while taking a few too many liberties to try to make it “Hollywood.”
Each player who stood up and talked seemed to say the same thing, phrasing their emotions the same as the last—eloquently and far too sophisticated for a high school kid, the kind of speech that would put any realistic teenager straight to sleep. I was waiting for the voice of the character to come through, either an awkward laugh or nervous stutter, but there were none to be found.
Chris Ryan (Alexander Ludwig), one of the team’s captains, gave an “inspiring” speech to the team, saying, “But come tomorrow, I don’t play for him. I play for you.” No seventeen year-old student speaks this way, and no high school team responds to such trite talks.
The movie would have been significantly better if there had been less dialogue. Instead of leaving the characters’ emotions up to our imagination, the screenwriters wrote out every feeling going through the players’ minds. It was obvious that one of the graduated players, Cam Colvin, (Ser’Darius Blain) was depressed. It wasn’t necessary to hear him repeat it a thousand times.
Despite these faults, there were a few moments where I found myself pulled into the story. The murder of one of the graduated players twisted my heart, especially when seeing his parents’ tear-jerking reactions. However, it was disappointing that the movie didn’t touch much on his death because it was one of the only good storylines present.
One character, Chris Ryan, had a tiger dad who pushed him far past the point of reason and was far too obsessed with his son’s life. While Chris’s dad was unrealistically preoccupied with his son’s career, I found myself laughing at the painful reality of his character. Everybody knows a parent who is too involved in his or her child’s life, and while being a little too over-the-top, I thought the movie accurately captured the tension of their relationship.
Some parts of the movie drew an occasional smile, but it wasn’t enough to balance out the innumerable cringe-worthy moments.
Every annoying movie cliché that could have been included somehow appeared. Between the players’ Mean Girls-ish fights and the epiphany that Coach Ladoceur (Jim Caviezel) had, I was getting déja vu. If I had wanted to see this level of creativity, I would have tuned into the Disney Channel.
What it lacked in writing ability, it attempted to compensate for in music, but nothing could save the train wreck of a screenplay. From start to finish, my ears were insulted with obnoxious “inspirational” music. I was exhausted after the first five minutes and still had 110 more to go. The movie intended to be motivating, but it fell far too short.
“When the Game Stands Tall” was an exhausting, predictable sports movie that botched a potentially wonderful story.
