When the Game Stands Tall

The trailer for When the Game Stands Tall makes the movie look more interesting than it really is.  The ads sell it as the story of a high school football team that has gone undefeated for so long, that when they finally lose, it impacts not only the players, but the entire community itself.  The actual movie is something far less interesting.  It's a syrupy and sentimental slog through inspirational cliches.  Yes, the loss does play a big part in the plot, but the movie is much more interested in the team's return to glory, as well as heavy-handed inspirational speeches accompanied by sappy music ringing out on the soundtrack.

We learn that in 2004, a high school football team from Concord, California held the longest-running winning streak in the history of any team in any level (professional, college, etc.) The De La Salle Spartans had won 151 games in a row over 12 championship seasons.  On the first game of the new season, that streak was ended when they went up against and were defeated by Bellvue Wolverines.  Leading up this fateful game, the team had had many personal setbacks.  The coach of the team, Bob Ladouceur (Jim Caveziel), had suffered a heart attack, and it almost looked like he wouldn't be able to coach the team anymore.  When he came back on the job, he saw that his players had lost the value of teamwork, and were more focused on themselves.  Not only that, but many of the top talent on the team had left for college, and in one tragic instance, a star player was fatally shot down in the street.

With the morale of the team at an all time low, Bob must now find a way to lift their spirits back up, and turn them back into the team they once were.  This involves a lot of speeches which fail to be all that inspirational, due to Caveziel's performance.  He must be the most soft spoken football coach in the history of the game, as he never seems to raise his voice above a whisper, even when he's on the sidelines pumping his players up.  We never truly get a sense of the connection between the coach and the players.  We don't actually get to see him work with the players all that much, he mostly just stands in the locker room and talks about teamwork and brotherhood non-stop, while trumpet music plays in the background.  A scene where he takes his team to a hospital for veterans who have lost their limbs in order to inspire them also doesn't work as well as it should, because the movie tosses it aside mostly as a montage, favoring gags instead of actually having the players talk to the recovering war veterans.

Only when the movie is focused on the game itself does When the Game Stands Tall come alive.  Director Thomas Carter brings us some of the most exciting football footage ever in a film, and this is coming from someone who cares little for the game.  Whenever the movie steps off the field, the cliches, the trite speeches, and the shoehorned in religious messages take over, and the pacing of the film suffers because of it.  None of the characters or the various subplots matter much.  There's a subplot early on about Bob Ladouceur not being able to connect with his teenage son, who is on the team.  This plot is given emphasis early on, but is only sporadically brought up now and then afterward.  Likewise, the plot concerning one of the players having a verbally abusive father (Clancy Brown) living vicariously through his son's success on the field feels forced and unfulfilling.  The father sneers and gnashes his teeth like a villain in a melodrama, and the son seems near tears at the abuse, but again this plot is only used sporadically, whenever the movie feels like it.  The father and son battle doesn't even have a resolution.  Laura Dern shows up as Ladouceur's wife, but all she's required to do is wring her hands and smile.

Compared to a movie like Friday Night Lights, this movie really comes up short.  It's calculated and manipulative, instead of being inspirational and uplifting.  There are some interesting themes behind the narrative, such as how hero worship can damage a team, but they are handled clumsily within the cliched structure of the narrative.  I guess how you respond to this movie depends on how you respond to sentiment.  I felt repulsed by the forced manipulations, but I can easily see this being a big crowd pleaser with the right audience.

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