- One need not have any interest in basketball to be moved by Ward Serrill’s incredibly moving, hypnotically riveting documentary. A HOOP DREAMS-style story transposed onto females in middle-class Seattle, THE HEART OF THE GAME follows a high school basketball team’s trials and tribulations over six years. Though it follows a team, the film is ultimately the story of two unique, courageous,
Go courtside for a true-life rush like no other in this passionate and inspirational documentary in the same powerful tradition as HOOP DREAMS. Director Ward Serrill brings the camera up close and personal to capture the Roosevelt Roughriders girls’ basketball team during six turbulent seasons, taking us far beyond the court. You’ll meet Bill Resler, the tax professor turned hard-driving unorthodox coach who turns the team around — and Darnellia Russell, the talented inner-city tough girl who battles off-court threats to regain eligibility. You’ll meet a real team full of drive, toughness and the unbridled desire to make history.The Heart of the Game is, simply put, one of the most enjoyable and joyous documentaries ever made. For several years, the movie follows a girls’ basketball team called the Rough Riders from a Seattle high school as they strive to win the state championship, and in the process discovers heart-wrenching twists of fate, vivid and compelling characters, colorful dialogue, and a nail-biting conclusion. The Heart of the Game starts with Bill Resler, a professor of tax law who agrees to become the head coach for the girls’ basketball program at Roosevelt High School. He swiftly challenges the players with demanding drills and wild metaphors (each year he picks a different theme for the team, from “pack of wolves” to “tropical storm”)–and the girls take him on, pulling together into a potent team. But when a girl from a poor neighborhood named Darnellia Russell joins the Rough Riders, her skill takes their fortunes even higher–until she unexpectedly has to quit. From there, the movie takes more and more compelling turns, carried along by the winning personalities of Bill and Darnellia. The Heart of the Game, like Hoop Dreams, works first as an exhilarating sports movie, but has a rich human story that will make it fascinating to people who don’t care about basketball. First-time filmmaker Ward Serrill lucked out with the material, but he clearly labored to shape what must have been thousands of hours of footage into a taut, headlong movie. His labor paid off. See this movie. –Bret Fetzer
Buy “The Heart of the Game” For Only $5.07
March 31, 2008
#1
The film is well crafted, but I do take issue with the racial tones of the storyline. Stop making ‘race’ an excuse.
People get out of life what they put into it. This should have been a story of human triumph instead of some run of the mill sociopolitical statement. There is waay too much of this happening today.
My appologies to the production crew, but 1 out of 5 stars is all this movie deserves.
March 31, 2008
#2
This is a great story an there is an excellent message for us all. I’m glad to add this to my collection.
March 31, 2008
#3
Great movie at a great price! If you like womens basketball you will love this movie!
March 31, 2008
#4
THE HEART OF THE GAME How is it that even sports documentaries seem to end with the great film cliché, “The Big Game”? You know how it works: you start with the scrappy underdogs that don’t have a chance. Then that key player or coach comes in and turns every thing around and suddenly there is a chance to be champions. But it all hinges on that last big event when the whole world seems to be watching.
Maybe it’s because that last pass, shoot or race can still put a lump in the throat and tear in the eye of even the most hardened of sports fans and movie goers. The Heart of the Game, a documentary about a girl’s high school basketball team, the Roosevelt Rough Riders of Seattle, Washington, follows a new coach as he builds the team over seven years.
Ward Serrill, the film maker, could not have known he would end up with the aforementioned cliché when he began the project, but he must have been thrilled when it came about. Bill Resler, the college economics professor who became the team’s coach, dreamed about the cliché of the big game and had to live through turmoil until “the big game” came about. And that turmoil, particularly the trials of two star players, Devon and Darnella, provides much of the drama for the viewer.
I highly recommend it for the sporting thrills, social commentary and unexpected humor (archive footage of early twentieth century woman’s basketball. And you thought the guys used to have funky uniforms).
March 31, 2008
#5
I caught the last half of this documentary on cable and was immediately mesmerized. It’s a wonderful story of persistence and the fact that it plays out over a six year period makes it all that more fascinating.