When the Game Stands Tall
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''When the Game Stands Tall'' is a 2014 American sports
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by Thomas Carter. The plot concerns a record 151-game 1992–2003
high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...
winning streak by De La Salle High School of
Concord, California Concord ( ) is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California. According to an estimate completed by the United States Census Bureau, the city had a population of 129,295 in 2019 making it the eighth largest city in the San Francisco Ba ...
. It stars
Jim Caviezel James Patrick Caviezel Jr. (; born September 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor who played Jesus Christ in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004) and starred as John Reese on the CBS series ''Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). He ...
as coach
Bob Ladouceur Robert Eugene Ladouceur (born July 3, 1954) is a retired American football coach. He began coaching the De La Salle High Spartans in Concord, California in 1979, when he was 25 years old. He took over a program that had never enjoyed a winning se ...
,
Laura Dern Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards. Born to actor Bruce Dern and ac ...
as Bev Ladouceur,
Michael Chiklis Michael Charles Chiklis ( born August 30, 1963) is an American actor, television director, television producer and musician. He is best known for his role as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama ''The S ...
as assistant coach Terry Eidson and
Alexander Ludwig Alexander Ludwig (born May 7, 1992) is a Canadian actor and country musician. He first began his career as a child, and then received recognition as a teenager for starring in the films '' The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising'' (2007) and ''Race to Wi ...
as running back Chris Ryan. The film is an adaptation of the 2003 book of the same name by Neil Hayes, published by
North Atlantic Books North Atlantic Books is a non-profit, independent publisher based in Berkeley, California, United States. Distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher Services, North Atlantic Books is a mission-driven social justice-oriented publisher. Founded ...
. De La Salle head coach Bob Ladouceur retired in January 2013 after winning his last Open Division state championship in December 2012. The film was released on August 22, 2014.


Plot

Bob Ladouceur Robert Eugene Ladouceur (born July 3, 1954) is a retired American football coach. He began coaching the De La Salle High Spartans in Concord, California in 1979, when he was 25 years old. He took over a program that had never enjoyed a winning se ...
, the coach of the De La Salle Spartans, watches his team win the championship of their undefeated 2003 season. Following tradition, the seniors share their stories about what the team means to them. The juniors, including Ladouceur's son Danny, celebrate with team captain Chris Ryan who has a chance of breaking the California state record for the highest career number of
touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
s. During an argument about whether to accept a coaching offer at the college level, Ladouceur's wife Beverly tells him that he does not spend enough time with his family. In a division meeting between coaches, Ladouceur is accused of cheating through scholarships or some other means of getting all the best players in the area. Ladouceur says scholarships are against the rules and he does not offer them. He arranges to have De La Salle play against
Long Beach Polytechnic High School Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a four-year public high school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States. The school serves portions of Long Beach, including Bixby ...
, a team with a similar reputation. Ladouceur engages the team members in a passage from the
Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...
that states that all good deeds will be rewarded. Rick Salinas, quarterback of the team, shares that he is blessed for doing the right thing because he gets to play on the streak team. Tayshon Lanear thinks otherwise because he doesn't think Salinas is in line to be starting quarterback because he's done the right thing, but because he is tall and has a cannon for an arm. This provokes a mixed reaction from players who come from disadvantaged households. Reminded of team alumnus Cameron Colvin, Ladouceur pays him a visit in
Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.
, and discovers that his mother is dying. Upon returning home, Ladouceur suffers a heart attack, impacting his ability to coach in the 2004 season. Colvin is approached by his best friend Terrance Kelly, who urges him to enroll at the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
so that they can play together. Not wanting to involve friends in the downward spiral he has found himself in, Colvin protests but eventually agrees. Days later, Kelly is shot and killed while trying to pick up a cousin and the Spartan team attends his funeral. De La Salle's 151-game
winning streak A winning streak, also known as a win streak or hot streak, is an uninterrupted sequence of success in games or competitions, commonly measured by at least 4 wins that are uninterrupted by losses or ties/draws. Although sometimes claimed as a ...
comes to an end when they lose a game against
Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a s ...
. After the game, Mickey Ryan hits his son because of one play he messed up, even though he scored three touchdowns, and threatens further abuse if he does not break the touchdown record. Coach Ladouceur takes the team to a veteran's rehabilitation center, to deconstruct their respective ideas of brotherhood. To prepare for the game against Long Beach Poly, the teammates watch videos of previous games and see that all of the Poly players are faster and more physically imposing. The grueling game becomes a victory for De La Salle after Danny knocks down a pass by Poly into the
end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...
to help the Spartans hold Poly on all four downs from inside the 5-yard-line. The Spartans enter the final 2004 game with a renewed sense of confidence and hope that Ryan can make three touchdowns to break the record. A number of touchdowns during the game, including two by Chris, place De La Salle in a comfortable lead. Mickey cheers that there is enough time left for him to break the record. When setting up their final play, Ryan gathers his teammates and tells them that it would be wrong for him to end his time with the team by chasing a personal victory. He instead gives up the ball and raises his helmet to Ladouceur. As the audience members do the same, the game ends with a tribute to the coach that brought them there.


Cast


Production

Thomas Carter, who previously worked on ''
Coach Carter ''Coach Carter'' is a 2005 American biographical teen sports drama film starring Samuel L. Jackson and directed by Thomas Carter (no relation). The film is based on the true story of Richmond High School basketball coach Ken Carter (played by J ...
'', served as director. The screen adaptation was by Scott Marshall Smith. The film was produced by
Mandalay Pictures Mandalay Pictures or Mandalay Vision is an American film production company founded on May 27, 1995, which is part of producer and businessman Peter Guber's Mandalay Entertainment. From 1997 until 2002, Lionsgate Entertainment owned a stake in M ...
and distributed through
TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...
, a division of
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) is a specialty film division of Sony Pictures. The company specializes in acquiring and producing films for a wide variety of distribution platforms. History The group became a stand-alone division of ...
(SPWA). David Zelon produced for Mandalay and Peter Nelson and Rich Peluso worked on behalf of SPWA and its distribution arm AFFIRM. Allan Graf, who previously worked on '' Friday Night Lights'', " oordinatedthe football scenes". Hayes, a ''
Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East Bay ...
'' journalist at the time the book was released, was part of the creative team. Zelon said the intrigue of this film was that Ladouceur "placed little value on winning, instead focusing his players on giving a 'perfect effort' in life". SPWA president Steve Bersch noted that the themes in the film transcended sports and cinema: "At its core, this is a timeless and universal story about character, hard work and love". Filming began April 22, 2013 and lasted until June 15, 2013.


Reception


Critical response

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, ''When the Game Stands Tall'' has a critics' rating of 20% based on 71 reviews, with an average score of 4.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "An uneasy blend of solid game sequences and threadbare inspirational sports drama clichés, ''When the Game Stands Tall'' is overshadowed by better players in a crowded field." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film holds a score of 41 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


Box office

In its opening weekend the film grossed $8,381,509 in 2,673 theaters, ranking at #5. By the end of its run, ''When the Game Stands Tall'' grossed $30,127,963 domestically.


Home media

''When the Game Stands Tall'' was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 9, 2014.


References


External links


Official website
* * * * * {{Thomas Carter 2014 films 2010s sports drama films American sports drama films Affirm Films films Films about religion Films set in the San Francisco Bay Area Films shot in New Orleans High school football films Mandalay Pictures films Sports films based on actual events TriStar Pictures films 2010s high school films 2014 drama films Films scored by John Paesano Films directed by Thomas Carter (director) 2010s English-language films 2010s American films