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Here's a look at the new movie I saw this week.

When the Game Stands Tall
Starring: Jim Caviezel, Laura Dern, Michael Chiklis, and Clancy Brown
Synopsis: ABC sports famously depicted the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. But when watching “When The Game Stands Tall,” a biopic about a high school football team that saw its record-setting win streak snapped, you get the feeling they could have appreciated those two points as well. We are in the midst of the another football season. The NFL preseason is ending and the regular season is less than a week away, the college football season begins this weekend and many high school teams have already begun playing games. It feels like the perfect time to release “When The Game Stands Tall,” a film that’s about football but at the same time isn’t. That’s because the characters depicted understood football was just a game, and life is about so much more than a game. It’s a beautiful story that follows the end of one season and the playing of another — a stretch of time that tested the players and coaches of De La Salle High School in the Bay Area of California as men, not just as football players. In depicting this story, “When The Game Stands Tall” serves as not just the finest film of the summer, but the best film released so far this year. Heading into “When The Game Stands Tall” I expected to see a sports movie, what I didn’t expect was to see a powerful story of faith and what it means to be a man. Yet all that is contained in this film. And at the same time, it is a powerful sports movie. De La Salle is a private, Catholic high school. It’s known as a football powerhouse, and coach Ladouceur has produced some fine athletes. But he’s more interested in producing fine men. Being a high school football coach is a calling — and it’s different than coach in the NFL or collegiate ranks. Though the film depicts a team that lost on the field, snapping a record-setting winning streak, it also depicts a group that grew as people, which is more important. Director Thomas Carter — who also directed the sports movie “Coach Carter” — has a great feel for the material and the world. The game action flows well, but there is a lot of emphasis placed on the quieter moments — the ones that shine the brightest in this film. There are some of the sports movie clichés you’d expect — largely because they are true to life. One of the players struggles with a father who pressures him for the wrong reasons, others struggle to understand the concept of team and some just hope to be good enough to get on the field. All that rounds out the story, but it’s not the focal point. Often film critics, like myself, are critical of Christian movies not for their professions of faith, but for their deficiencies as films. This was a rare exception — a movie that is a beautifully told story that weaves in some powerful expressions of faith. Caviezel, a Christian who once famously portrayed Jesus on screen, does a beautiful job in the lead role. His quiet strength and presence work beautifully on the screen. The young actors who play members of the team do their part as well, while Laura Dern offers a nice performance as Ladouceur’s wife, Bev, and Michael Chiklis is strong in a supporting role as co-coach Terry Eidson. This is a beautiful story that’s beautifully told. It’s inspiring, exciting and, at times, heart-breaking. But above all, it’s the rare movie this year that has heart.
Rating: PG for thematic material, a scene of violence and brief smoking.
Verdict: Four stars out of four.

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