When the Game Stands Tall (2014)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The one thing you can always count on when watching a football film, is that it's going to be exciting. It doesn't matter if it's a true story, like When The Game Stands Tall, or a made up one like Friday Night Lights. It doesn't matter if the team has won 100 straight games or lost 100 straight games. Every film about football is going to be exciting, so what makes one better than the other? The personalities involved, it all comes down to who the film is focused on and this film has it's eyes on the prize. Jim Caviezel stars as Bobby Ladouceur, one of the most successful high school football coaches of all-time. Ladouceur became a national celebrity, not only because of a big winning streak, but also because of the way he incorporated family values and religion into his coaching, trying to make his player more well-rounded individuals. Caviezel was outstanding, as he is in everything, but after watching six seasons of Person of Interest, it's almost disappointing seeing Caviezel in a role where he doesn't kill anyone. The other focus of the film is Alexander Ludwig, who portrays Chris Ryan, a kid who has all the talent in the world, but has to decide, if he's pushing himself toward greatness for himself or because of a psychotic father. Ludwig always gets second billing, but as with the Hunger Games, nothing would be as good without him. He is the unsung hero of this film as he rounds out the emotional roller-coaster. When The Game Stands Tall has action, emotion, conflict, religion, family, love, hate, a little bit of everything and believe it or not, at the heart of it all is a simple, stupid little game called football. This film was great, it reminded me a lot of the TV version of Friday Night Lights and it's an absolute can't miss for sports enthusiasts.

to say this movie sucks is to say that getting run over by a bus hurts ... luckily, however, the pain involved in getting run over by a bus lasts only a few seconds (hopefully and initially) but the pain involved with this movie lasts for two hours ... i went looking for a bus about halfway thru this predictable piece of tripe ... every cliché about sports is dumped into this celluloid-crap-truck by the shovelful and reminded me of my days swamping out horse stalls by the shovelful ...you might as well go back and watch "Knute Rockne All-American", starring Pat O'Brien and some half wit hack who somehow wandered into the White House forty years later and was equally predictable and lame there as he was in this 1940 piece of crap ...if you want to sit in front of your TV and continually predict the next "plot twist" with the winner taking a shot i suppose it is functional as a drinking game ... other than that, you might as well step out in front of a hard-charging bus

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

"The streak was never our goal." Bob Ladouceur (Caviezel) is the head coach of the De La Salle Spartans, a high school team from California that has won 151 straight games. When they lose the 152nd things start to fall apart. Faced with tragedy on and off the field Coach Ladouceur must find a way to get the team to play together and grow as men. Sports movies are one of my favorite movie genres so I was really looking forward to this. I had high expectations going into this and that may be why I was a little disappointed. The movie was good and worth seeing but I really felt no connection with the players or the coaches. I just wasn't inspired like I was hoping I would be. Movies like Remember The Titans, Coach Carter and Glory Road are some of the recent ones that really gripped me and made me root for the team. There was something missing in this one because I wasn't rooting for anyone. The acting is good and the 2nd half of the movie really picked up though. I loved the ending and thought it was perfect but other than that I have to admit that I haven't been disappointed in a movie like I was in this in a long time. Overall, I'm sure many people will enjoy this but I was very disappointed. I'm not sure what was missing but I wasn't gripped like I wanted to be. I give this a low B.