Screen_Blitz Over the past several years, the sports genre has been slowly grown more and more dull as the year goes by, with many films of the genre driven by almost nothing more than common sports tropes. Fortunately, the triumphant nature of these films hasn't stop audiences everywhere from buying a ticket to see an inspiring story of a high school overcoming odds to claim their victory, and for fair reasons. When a film has a heart, it's only destiny is to win the hearts of undemanding family audience. In this case, clichéd doesn't automatically mean not entertaining. Based on true events, When The Game Stands Tall follows the story of Bob Ladouceur (played by Jim Caviezal), a long-time and soft-spoken coach of the the De La Salle High School football team in Concord, California who made legacy in American sports with a 151 game-winning streak, the biggest record ever held in the history of American sports. When tragedy strikes the team and they face a defeating loss for the first time, their faith and their dreams are put to the test where they must learn how to overcome loss and get back on their feet. Featuring a likable cast of Michael Chiklis, Alexander Ludwig, Clancy Brown, Laura Dern, Matthew Daddario, Joe Massingill, Ser'Darius Blain, Stephen James, and Richard Kohnke; this film brings together a heart-warming and inspirational tale of a football's team determination and hopefulness, while challenging a typical sports movie clichés.This movie certainly doesn't offer anything new to the table of sports-related dramas. As far as football-themed films go, this one seems to burn through nearly every cliché that many sports movies are known for, including a major plot point where a character is tragically is killed and a subplot of a family dispute relating to duty of working with a football team, how many times we seen this before? Most of the characters are barely distinguishable with the exception of Alexander Ludwig's character Chris Ryan, an eager player who suffers from emotional abuse from his father who only cares about his son's touchdown records. With all this said, the lack of innovation put into this story will likely indulge viewers into more déjà vu than inspiration. On the other hand, audience who've grown fond of sports movies won't help but pleased by the film's messages of treating your team as a family and the heart- touching story of how the team learns to overcome the obstacles that get in the way of their goals. There is also a little bit of a Christian undertone to it that will likely satisfy viewers, and the film does a great job at delivering a message about hope and teamwork without being overly preachy or forcefully shoving the message down your throat. Lastly, the performances are great to say the least. Jim Caviezel really makes a strong impression as the coach who deeply cares of his team, while trying to balance his relationship with his wife. The rest of actors do a decent job as well, though nothing particularly outstanding to speak of.When The Game Stands Tall is certainly nothing original, but it is quite entertaining and pleasing to watch. It is a film that can surely inspire viewers and fill them with great messages. Looking for a good family movie? This one is worth a try.

Robert W. I'm not a big athlete, I don't follow any sports and I'm not a "sports guy" but I love a good sports movie. Some of my favourite movies are sports films because they tend to be full of emotion and drama and intensity. Think of all the classic films that revolve around sports in some way. There is something heroic and inspiring about sports films. So when I originally saw the trailer for When The Game Stands Tall I was practically foaming at the mouth. It had all the earmarks of being one of those uplifting, tear inducing films that leave you cheering. For one reason or another I kept putting off watching it, and putting it off and putting it off and finally...MONTHS later, I watched it. Probably it was partially marred by my expectations. That was inevitable. Not that this was a bad movie at all but it didn't set itself above or beyond any other film that has come before it. Some of the performances were very stiff and while I have absolutely no problem with a spiritual film or a Christian message, I think they let it lead the film rather than making it a part of the story and building around those morals. The film is incredibly predictable and doesn't even try to set itself apart.Jim Caviezel is an excellent actor. We've seen him done some solid roles but this is not one. He is so stiff in this role. I don't know if he's purposely playing the role moody and broody but he barely shows emotion even when he's giving passionate speeches. He seems downright hard and it makes it tough for us as viewers to relate to him and see him as a hero to the kids. He didn't play this role well at all. Michael Chiklis was good but severely underused as the assistant coach. Laura Dern is also very underused as Caviezel's wife. They could have focused on how his career has affected his marriage but she overacts the scenes she is in and that isn't many. The kids are decent but nobody stands out and that is a big problem too. Alexander Ludwig should be the focus but he isn't strong enough to carry the part and he ends up being just okay. Clancy Brown, Matthew Daddario, Joe Massingill, Jessie Usher and Stephan James give some of the more notable performances and they are all good but a movie like this could have given the opportunity for great performances but no one does.Director Thomas Carter comes from Television and he struggles to really pull this cast together to tell a good story in the window of a feature film. The script just feels clumsy but the morals are certainly there, the story is effective enough and families and young athletes can watch this and get something from it. It would probably be more effective to read about the real coach and real story but this is a good place to start. I certainly don't mean to bash the movie but I had such high expectations because this is really an easy genre to nail. The recipe is clearly cut by many films before it and I'm pretty easy to impress even if it is being predictable. This one was mostly forgettable and I will forever remember waiting so long for it to be just okay. 7/10

leonblackwood Review: I couldn't really get into this film because I'm not a big American Football fan and I haven't heard of this team before. I was hoping that there was going to be some interesting individuals which I would find entertaining but it was totally about the game and how the team pulled together and became the best. Personally, I found the film quite corny and more like a HBO special than a cinematic movie. The performances were average and none of the team members really stuck out from the rest. As it's based on a true story, the achievements that the team made were very inspiring but for entertainment, we have all seen this very American type of movie before. There is obviously an audience for this type of movie, judging by the profit that it made at the box office but I personally lost interest after a while. Average!Round-Up: The only reason why I gave this movie a chance was because of movies like Any Given Sunday, The Blind Side and the Gridiron Gang, which I really enjoyed. You don't really need to be a American Football fan to enjoy those movies but you do with this film. There are a couple of scenes which deal with the individual players but they don't last that long. Jim Caviezel didn't really show that much emotion through the film and he seemed to have the same expression on his face most of the time but maybe that is down to the director who was trying keep the character as close to the real Bob Ladouceur as possible. Anyway, this movie wasn't really for me but I'm sure that the Spartan and American Football fans will love it.Budget: $15million Worldwide Gross: $30millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their true sports biopics about the Spartan American Football team and there record breaking achievements. 3/10

kalsid12 I enjoyed the movie and found it to be very inspiring. But this is not just a football movie, it's a movie about coaching young men to be more than living life for themselves. It's about teammates and brotherhood. That's something that we need a lot more of in this society. For those who criticize the religious aspect of the movie, get over it! This is about a Catholic high school where faith is an important part of who Coach Ladouceur is as a person and what the school is. Don't try to clean God out of everything just so you can avoid thinking about spirituality.The acting was good, not great. My only real criticism of the movie is that I wish it stayed closer to the true story of the 2004 season. DLS did not play Long Beach Poly in the 2004 season. Bellevue beat DLS without throwing a pass the whole game. And there was nobody named Chris Ryan on the team. A little bit too dramatized for Hollywood.