"Heart of the Game"

Thanks to ATT, here's an early review of "The Heart of the Game":

"The Heart of the Game" screened at the Seattle International Film Festival for the second year in a row, this time more polished and as a preview to its wide release.

Producer/director Ward Serrill introduced many of the movie's "characters" following the Thursday (6/8) screening. It was a packed theater supporting the homegrown story.

The story follows the developments of a high school girls' basketball team and its players during a seven-year span under the direction of an unlikely coach - a university tax professor. Upon his hiring, he admits that he has little experience and unconventional ideas, but has an enthusiasm to coach and try new tactics. I often hear high school and college-level coaches professing that they teach their players life skills in addition to game skills. This coach is shown to actually do so.

To try to summarize this movie would not do it justice. The mix of humor, drama, and moral/political debate is well-balanced and smooth. I can toss out any number of descriptors that would attempt to classify it - "an uplifting story of teamwork", "a study in friendly rivalry and coaching styles", "a girl power movie", "a collection of people taking unconventional paths and facing major turning points at an early age" - but it's better just to experience it for oneself.

Development of audience sympathy and familiarity for the coach and main character comes at the price of some minimization of other teammates and of a rival team. Thankfully, the rivalry was developed only on-court and friendly moments off-court were often featured, avoiding a Disneylike good guys-bad guys dichotomy. Narration by Ludacris was neither notably bad or good. I didn't realize it was his voice until credits ran. I didn't really know what to expect from this movie, but I came away from it extremely satisfied.

Could this be the year of the documentary? Along with "WordPlay" and "Dave Chappelle's Block Party," some reviewers (read this) are saying it's a great year for documentaries, some of which are trumping other theatrical releases as the best of the year so far.

UPDATE:
And here is another fun take on the film, from a U-Dub perspective