![]() The picture skims over the fact that De La Salle is a Catholic high school, but it does include scenes in which Ladouceur teaches religion classes and tries to use lessons from the gospels to inspire his students and team players. The film may hope to seduce the growing audience for faith-based films. The team members are fairly indistinguishable, sketched with broad brushstrokes that prevent any of them from emerging as memorable individuals. It’s always good to see Laura Dern, but she is wasted in the role of Ladouceur’s wife, who pushes him to take a college coaching job, but otherwise remains on the sidelines. The team quarterback ( The Hunger Games‘ Alexander Ludwig) faces pressure from an overbearing father ( Clancy Brown), but that’s about the only bit of drama that ratchets up the film’s tepid energy level.Ĭharacterizations are also very thin. There are a few conflicts among the teammates, but these are all fairly mild. Coach Ladouceur makes a thorough recovery that allows him to resume his coaching duties fairly soon. The big problem with the film is that it’s short of drama off the football field. Reeling from these setbacks, the team loses its first two games of the new season before their spirit of brotherhood gets them back on track. Then an African-American team member ( Stephan James) is murdered in a ruckus before he is about to head off to college. First, team coach Bob Ladouceur ( Jim Caviezel) suffers a heart attack. But the story begins when some setbacks threaten their 2004 season. Smith recounts the true story of the De La Salle Spartans, a team that had broken records by winning 151 consecutive games by the end of its 2003 season. This new picture has more gridiron action to please fans, but the script by Scott Marshall Smith is far more formulaic. But it’s too blandly acted and directed to make much of an impact.Īn earlier football movie this year, the Kevin Costner– Ivan Reitman collaboration Draft Day, was somewhat underrated and also underperformed at the box office. This paint-by-numbers tale of a winning high school football team in northern California probably hopes to attract the back-to-school audience. ![]() Inspirational sports movies always have audience appeal, but it’s hard to imagine a huge crowd turning out for the latest feel-good football drama, When the Game Stands Tall. ![]()
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