- Actors: Kevin Sorbo, Aaron Jakubenko, Wade Briggs, Anna McGahan
- Director: J.D. Scott
- Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Language: English
- Subtitles: French, English, Spanish
- Region: Region 1
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Rated: PG
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- DVD Release Date: February 7, 2017
- Run Time: 98 minutes
Christian
faith-based films have a notorious reputation for amateur filmmaking, but Spirit of the Game, along with other
recent Mormon entries into the faith-based genre, proves that no one
denomination is guiltier than another. No matter what religion is making the
film, if the primarily goal is to evangelize with the content, the result is
more propaganda than art. This might even be forgivable if the quality of
filmmaking weren’t so laughably poor. Spirit
of the Game is no worse than countless Christian-made films, but it
certainly is no better either.
Based on a true
story from the mid-1950s that shows actual potential for a solid sports film, Spirit of the Game is quickly bogged
down with cliché dialogue and amateur acting. After he is harshly dumped by his
fiancé, twenty-year-old Mormon, DeLyle Condie, leaves behind his college
basketball career to become a missionary for his church. He is sent to Melbourne, Australia,
where the upcoming Olympics have many citizens excited about the very sport he
left behind. At first the missionaries have a casual relationship with the
locals through friendly basketball games, until the mission president forbids
participation in sports. Condie proves the value of the sport as an evangelical
tool, after an impromptu game at a local prison sees results, and they are
given permission to play.
Condie and a
group of his missionary colleagues put together a team called the Mormon
Yankees, with the purpose of being an exhibition team for the official Olympic
teams to play as practice. Then, to everyone’s surprise, they begin winning
against many of these teams. A win against the esteemed French team leads to a
brutal rematch exhibition game, which serves as the film’s climactic sequence.
This has all of the makings of a classic sports film, unfortunately ineffective
due to the shortcomings of the production.
There is no
nuance, no subtlety, and no depth in either the dialogue or the acting reciting
these poorly written lines. I have seen children’s films with more complexity
than these characters have, despite being based on real people. The screenplay
feels forcefully contrived into a predictable sports narrative, which may have
been bearable with more believable performers. Not only are the actors cast in
these roles unable to convincingly say the lines, they are also fairly
incompetent at the sport they are supposed to excel at. As a result, even the
scenes without dialogue end up feeling false.
There is no need
to beat a dead horse. The bottom line is that only those prioritizing religious
message and safe content over quality filmmaking will be able to appreciate Spirit of the Game. There may be no
language, sex, or violence to offend any religious groups, but there is also no
content intelligent enough to inspire any real introspection. They have watered
down the narrative to the point that it is simultaneously safe and completely
ineffective as a result.
The DVD release
comes with a behind-the-scenes featurette.
Entertainment Value:
4/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 2/10
Historical
Significance: 0/10
Special Features: 2/10
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