Movie review- When the Game Stands Tall
Sep. 7th, 2014 10:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23When the Game Stands Tall- You likely know by now that I am a sucker for sports movies. "Stands Tall" has got a good marketing push and looks like a good mix of drama and sports story.
I've watched a lot of the Disney sports stories, and their football films like "Invincible" and "Remember the Titans", but all of their sports movies.
I think "Stands Tall" benefits by not being Disney-fied. It is based on a true story, and mostly follows that story. Where Disney likes to throw in a few things to make the truth more "interesting", this seems to benefit from sticking to what is a good story. There are a couple of made up storylines (I have since researched), but the main facts are true, and the deviations are plausible enough.
The team follows a high school team that has built a winning streak that has become so legendary (150+ games) that it is all the town cares about; and inevitably will have to end. De La Salle is a private school (yes, private schools starting in the 80s and 90s inevitably crossed all kinds of lines to seemingly always get the best athletes at their school, and this film doesn't try to hide that)
A team thats success was built on teamwork and fundamentals, inevitably led to cockiness and selfishness. Of course, this (along with graduation, right?) led to that loss. This team is not very likeable, but the film builds a transition to heroes that really works.
Which describes the whole movie. There's a lot of plot points that on paper are cliché. I am not sure who to credit, but seemingly, the heroes are the director (Thomas Carter "Save the last Dance" "Coach Carter") and writers.
Clearly, one thing that makes this movie better than similar ones, is the football action. The football action feels very real, and although we all know the outcome in movies like this, the movie succeeds in keeping you glued to your seat.
Many people will comment on this film's faith-based basis (probably more words will be written on that than the story itself). Some will say it's too preachy, while others will no doubt say it doesn't go far enough. For me, I thought it had a good balance. This is a Catholic high school and the Coach built his tea, and faith and Catholic traditions. It makes sense that the movie captures this.
It's hard to make the case that the actors elevate this film. Jim Cavaziel serves the lead role well enough, but seems like a replacement for a better actor. He comes off as a more surly Christian Bale or a less charismatic Tom Cruise. Cavaziel seems like he's trying to hard to be intense.
Even the teen stars of the cast are fairly standard and some of their performances are over the top. The major exception being Stephan James (who will play Jesse Owens in a biopic next year) and Ser'Daruis Blain who give strong performances. Michael Chiklis (almost unrecognizable) and Laura Dern also give good character support.
The movie is maybe too long at two hours, and suffers the problem of having it's climactic moment a sizeable length of time before the movie actually ends.
Overall, I give this good marks as a football movie. It's hard to say what makes this a better film than the typical Disney fare, but it generally does. Critics have really savaged this film, but it is generally a successful one. With a lesser budget (and worse football scenes), this might not have been much more than a direct-to-video film, but it stays above that line to make it worthwhile. It doesn't fill the promise of its trailer which promises Oscarworthy drama. It's not that. It does drag and no doubt certain elements are ham-fisted (The Kurgan as an abusive dad) but somehow it manages to mostly work. A good family film that will make you cheer.
I've watched a lot of the Disney sports stories, and their football films like "Invincible" and "Remember the Titans", but all of their sports movies.
I think "Stands Tall" benefits by not being Disney-fied. It is based on a true story, and mostly follows that story. Where Disney likes to throw in a few things to make the truth more "interesting", this seems to benefit from sticking to what is a good story. There are a couple of made up storylines (I have since researched), but the main facts are true, and the deviations are plausible enough.
The team follows a high school team that has built a winning streak that has become so legendary (150+ games) that it is all the town cares about; and inevitably will have to end. De La Salle is a private school (yes, private schools starting in the 80s and 90s inevitably crossed all kinds of lines to seemingly always get the best athletes at their school, and this film doesn't try to hide that)
A team thats success was built on teamwork and fundamentals, inevitably led to cockiness and selfishness. Of course, this (along with graduation, right?) led to that loss. This team is not very likeable, but the film builds a transition to heroes that really works.
Which describes the whole movie. There's a lot of plot points that on paper are cliché. I am not sure who to credit, but seemingly, the heroes are the director (Thomas Carter "Save the last Dance" "Coach Carter") and writers.
Clearly, one thing that makes this movie better than similar ones, is the football action. The football action feels very real, and although we all know the outcome in movies like this, the movie succeeds in keeping you glued to your seat.
Many people will comment on this film's faith-based basis (probably more words will be written on that than the story itself). Some will say it's too preachy, while others will no doubt say it doesn't go far enough. For me, I thought it had a good balance. This is a Catholic high school and the Coach built his tea, and faith and Catholic traditions. It makes sense that the movie captures this.
It's hard to make the case that the actors elevate this film. Jim Cavaziel serves the lead role well enough, but seems like a replacement for a better actor. He comes off as a more surly Christian Bale or a less charismatic Tom Cruise. Cavaziel seems like he's trying to hard to be intense.
Even the teen stars of the cast are fairly standard and some of their performances are over the top. The major exception being Stephan James (who will play Jesse Owens in a biopic next year) and Ser'Daruis Blain who give strong performances. Michael Chiklis (almost unrecognizable) and Laura Dern also give good character support.
The movie is maybe too long at two hours, and suffers the problem of having it's climactic moment a sizeable length of time before the movie actually ends.
Overall, I give this good marks as a football movie. It's hard to say what makes this a better film than the typical Disney fare, but it generally does. Critics have really savaged this film, but it is generally a successful one. With a lesser budget (and worse football scenes), this might not have been much more than a direct-to-video film, but it stays above that line to make it worthwhile. It doesn't fill the promise of its trailer which promises Oscarworthy drama. It's not that. It does drag and no doubt certain elements are ham-fisted (The Kurgan as an abusive dad) but somehow it manages to mostly work. A good family film that will make you cheer.
