Slight Game Full of Heart

For seven years “The Heart of the Game” director Ward Serrill followed the Roosevelt Roughriders ladies high school basketball team around with his camera waiting for a story to burst forth out of the footage. The story he found isn’t one so much about Seattle basketball as it is about the nuts and bolts of what it takes to be a champion. Issues of race, class, poverty, wealth, education and teen pregnancy all make an appearance, but it is winning – both on the court as well as in life – that’s really at the heart of Serrill’s documentary, and darn it all if watching it all come together isn’t just about the single most entertaining thing I’ve seen all year.

While it is certainly no “Hoop Dreams” (not even close), this film is certainly a joyous celebration of the communal nature of sport from start to finish. At its most basic, this is the journey of former University of Washington tax law professor Bill Resler, who almost on a whim decided to take over the struggling girls basketball program at Roosevelt High School and almost immediately makes it over into a powerhouse. Resler is a charming guy, a dynamic motivator who enters each season with a new nickname; Pack of Wolves, Pride of Lions, Tropical Storm; to motivate his team.

Scenes of the team going through training drills (the usual “Hoosiers”-like montage of wind sprints, passing formations and defensive squatting), of the girls going to classes and of the team dismantling more high-powered opponents like arch rivals Garfield High School ensure entertainingly enough, but it is the arrival of freshman African American superstar Darnelia Russell that gives the movie its real zip. Thrust into an almost all-white world (Roosevelt isn’t exactly a rich neighborhood, but it is mostly Caucasian), it takes the girl a little while to find her way, but when she does Darnelia proves to be a star for the team and the school both on and off the court.

Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean she makes the best choices in the world. Long story short, Russell ends up pregnant, leading to the Seattle School District barring her from competing in any more games. Yet the team rallies through this potential catastrophe, embracing both her and her situation as both teammates and friends. More, Resler decides to take on the school district for what he sees as unfair treatment towards his team and his player, even going to a different kind of court to make sure his pupil gets her chance to shine both at school and while holding a basketball.

This all moves along with rather unsurprising precision, and while I was watching it I couldn’t help but realize that had any of the darker episodes contained within turned out badly this probably wouldn’t be getting a high profile summertime release from Miramax. But this obviousness is also part of the film’s charm, a knowledge resting deep down inside that everything is going to turn out a-okay filling your heart with a warm contentedness that’s really rather wonderful.

But for all the pomp and circumstance surround it, “The Heart of the Game” is still nothing more than an exuberantly exhilarating trifle. It’s certainly a lot of fun, and as I’ve seen it three times now it is definitely easy to watch, but those expecting a transformative experience along the lines of “Hoop Dreams” or “Mad Hot Ballroom” certainly have another thing coming. Yet it is impossible to dislike this basketball-flavored life journey, and for anyone who fondly recalls their days of pounding the hardwood this is certainly a film that can’t be missed.