The Heart of the Game Review

June 14, 2006 5:26 PM
by [email]

It doesn’t matter if it’s the NBA or the WNBA, I don’t watch basketball if it isn’t live. When anyone turns on the sports network I leave the room, and when I absolutely can’t, I fidget with extreme boredom. But while watching “The Heart of the Game,” I was gripping my arm rests and ignoring my popcorn. By the time the championship game ended with fanfare, I was literally in tears.

Long-winded, yes, but by now you probably know you don’t need to be a sports fan to be riveted – and I do not use the word lightly- by this documentary. Narrated by Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, “Game” is directed by first-time filmmaker Ward Serrill, who spent years lugging his camera around Roosevelt high school. He was planning to film one year in the life of the Roughriders, a girls’ basketball team headed by Bill Resler - a ferocious, attentive, and slightly loopy coach.

Fortune knocked on his camera in the form of Darnellia Russell, a fourteen-year-old basketball prodigy who wandered onto the court right when Serrill was ready to call it a wrap. Smart and bull-headed in equal stripes, Russell challenged her coach, but he proved to be as stubborn as his star player. When Darnellia’s unexpected pregnancy interrupted her swiftly rising star, a legal battle with the WIAA (Washington Interscholastic Activities Association) ensued. The organization serves as the movie’s hatefully conservative villain.

Though Darnellia is the focus of the film, Serrill captures Resler’s unorthodox coaching style and eccentric persona with equal vigor- their relationship is the film’s real heart. On the sidelines are stories of Darnellia’s teammates, most notably that of Devon, who is sexually abused by her out-of-school basketball coach.

Major struggles prevail on and off the court, and “Game” develops with a perfect dramatic arc - remarkable in and of itself. This is a documentary that has all the elements of the best fiction features- it’s inspiring, it’s funny, it’s visceral, and, if you’re so inclined, you can practically smell sweat.

Grade: A