Movie Review Black Los Angeles

BlackNLA Movie Reviews

*****THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*****

by Edwardo Jackson

BIASES: 30 (yikes!) year old black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare

THE HEART OF THE GAME (PG-13) *opens 6/9

Biases: Totally biased: I played high school basketball in Seattle.

Players: Darnellia Russell, producer/writer/director Ward Serrill

Logline: University of Washington tax professor Bill Resler takes over Seattle's underperforming Roosevelt High School girls basketball team, instantly molding them into a self-sustaining, rabid basketball machine that goes to the State Tournament. Over a period of seven years, we see Resler's impact on the girls, including star player Darnellia Russell, whose challenges with academics, team politics, her own temper, and unplanned parenthood threaten to derail her life, not to mention her star-studded basketball career.

The Deal: Using a theme for every season to unite his Roosevelt Roughriders basketball team (think "tropical storm," "pride of lions," or, my personal favorite, "pack of wolves"), Resler cuts a compelling, imminently watchable and nerdily charismatic figure as high school basketball coach. Preaching no set offenses, 32 minutes of full court pressing, and a carnal approach to the game not usually seen in girls sports, Resler's dry wit, organized and studious approach to coaching is everything you would want and hope to expect out of a high school authority figure. Wonderfully directed despite some very shaky handheld camerawork by Serrill (with kudos to Eric Frith's great editing of 200 hours of footage), "Heart" bears all the hallmarks of a first-rate movie, documentary or otherwise. There's the latent racism of self-righteous white folk, issues of teenage pregnancy and sexual abuse, and, of course, the dynamics of team chemistry both on and off the court. Toss in a humorous dose of Seattle girls basketball history and the emergence of a rival in Coach Joyce Walker's crosstown Garfield Bulldogs and you have a sports movie that avoids nearly every single sports cliche simply because it is real, honest, and GOOD.

Narrated with the low-key, Southern syrupy urban drawl of rapper-actor Ludacris, "Heart" excels because it is so much more than a sports movie. After making you fall in love with Darnellia her first two seasons because of her eye-rolling smiles, limitless confidence, and never-back-down attitude, Serrill stomach punches you with her pregnancy and its impact on the team, giving an emotional face to what's normally just another statistic - single black teenage mom. Although not dwelled upon heavily, Darnellia's social and cultural transition from her predominantly black neighborhood to the Asian and white Roosevelt High (she skips school initially because she "had never been around so many white people before") is quietly damning commentary of how self-segregating even a surface liberal city as Seattle is (perennial national leader in interracial marriages). Eschewing much of a musical score for high school reunion-inspiring band music, "Heart" taps into the psyches of that oh so elusive mental terrain of the teenage girl with Resler as our tour guide, encouraging his girls' players' only Inner Circle, whose purpose is to "get the parents out of the team." When not screaming like a madman as the team's biggest cheerleader or tapping into their latent aggression with natural selection hunting metaphors, Resler, and his impact, comes full circle when a former player sends a heartfelt letter back to the team, reminding us, and them, just how long a way they've come (baby) as a program and as people.

While my modest Metro League roots in the '90s undoubtedly over-influence my opinion, you don't have to be from Seattle or to have played organized basketball to see that this movie is more than a female "Hoop Dreams." It is, male or female, quite simply "The Heart of the Game."

@@@@ REELS
(FOUR REELS)
An urban legend/instant classic.

Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at ReelReviewz@aol.com!

Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com




			BlackNLA Movie Reviews ***THE REEL DEAL: Reviewz from the Street*** by Edwardo Jackson BIASES: 30 (yikes!) year old black male; frustrated screenwriter who favors action, comedy, and glossy, big budget movies over indie flicks, kiddie flicks, and weepy Merchant Ivory fare THE HEART OF THE GAME (PG-13) *opens 6/9 Biases: Totally biased: I played high school basketball in Seattle. Players: Darnellia Russell, producer/writer/director Ward Serrill Logline: University of Washington tax professor Bill Resler takes over Seattle's underperforming Roosevelt High School girls basketball team, instantly molding them into a self-sustaining, rabid basketball machine that goes to the State Tournament. Over a period of seven years, we see Resler's impact on the girls, including star player Darnellia Russell, whose challenges with academics, team politics, her own temper, and unplanned parenthood threaten to derail her life, not to mention her star-studded basketball career. The Deal: Using a theme for every season to unite his Roosevelt Roughriders basketball team (think "tropical storm," "pride of lions," or, my personal favorite, "pack of wolves"), Resler cuts a compelling, imminently watchable and nerdily charismatic figure as high school basketball coach. Preaching no set offenses, 32 minutes of full court pressing, and a carnal approach to the game not usually seen in girls sports, Resler's dry wit, organized and studious approach to coaching is everything you would want and hope to expect out of a high school authority figure. Wonderfully directed despite some very shaky handheld camerawork by Serrill (with kudos to Eric Frith's great editing of 200 hours of footage), "Heart" bears all the hallmarks of a first-rate movie, documentary or otherwise. There's the latent racism of self-righteous white folk, issues of teenage pregnancy and sexual abuse, and, of course, the dynamics of team chemistry both on and off the court. Toss in a humorous dose of Seattle girls basketball history and the emergence of a rival in Coach Joyce Walker's crosstown Garfield Bulldogs and you have a sports movie that avoids nearly every single sports cliche simply because it is real, honest, and GOOD. Narrated with the low-key, Southern syrupy urban drawl of rapper-actor Ludacris, "Heart" excels because it is so much more than a sports movie. After making you fall in love with Darnellia her first two seasons because of her eye-rolling smiles, limitless confidence, and never-back-down attitude, Serrill stomach punches you with her pregnancy and its impact on the team, giving an emotional face to what's normally just another statistic - single black teenage mom. Although not dwelled upon heavily, Darnellia's social and cultural transition from her predominantly black neighborhood to the Asian and white Roosevelt High (she skips school initially because she "had never been around so many white people before") is quietly damning commentary of how self-segregating even a surface liberal city as Seattle is (perennial national leader in interracial marriages). Eschewing much of a musical score for high school reunion-inspiring band music, "Heart" taps into the psyches of that oh so elusive mental terrain of the teenage girl with Resler as our tour guide, encouraging his girls' players' only Inner Circle, whose purpose is to "get the parents out of the team." When not screaming like a madman as the team's biggest cheerleader or tapping into their latent aggression with natural selection hunting metaphors, Resler, and his impact, comes full circle when a former player sends a heartfelt letter back to the team, reminding us, and them, just how long a way they've come (baby) as a program and as people. While my modest Metro League roots in the '90s undoubtedly over-influence my opinion, you don't have to be from Seattle or to have played organized basketball to see that this movie is more than a female "Hoop Dreams." It is, male or female, quite simply "The Heart of the Game." @@@@ REELS (FOUR REELS) An urban legend/instant classic. Like what you read? Agree/disagree with The Reel Deal? Think he's talkin' out his...HUSH YO' MOUF! (I'm only talkin' about The Reel Deal!) Email him at ReelReviewz@aol.com! Edwardo Jackson is the author of the novels EVER AFTER and NEVA HAFTA, (Villard/Random House), a writer for UrbanFilmPremiere.com, and an LA-based screenwriter. Visit his website at www.edwardojackson.com © 2004, Edwardo Jackson