Rez Ball

How many of these rag tag kids go from outcasts to heroes sports movies do we need? Watch Bad News Bears, Hoosiers, Mighty Ducks then repeat if you want to watch the same movie again. For that matter, if you substitute an individual for the kids, you can just watch Rocky (the first 3 anyway) or Million Dollar Baby and get all the underdog overcomes adversity to win sports contest thrills you will ever need.

Rez Ball is just the same plot with poor direction, no development of a connection between the viewer and the character, obtrusive musical montages instead of actual acting and checking off some Dine stereotypes. Oh, and if they said the phrase "Rez Ball" one more time, I planned on sticking an icepick into my eardrums.

I'm all for using Native American actors in films wherever you want to cast them. Just make sure you create a good movie first.

Sydney Freeland's 2024 film "Rez Ball" is a potent sports drama based on true events that rocked a small Native American town. The movie deftly addresses difficult subjects like suicide, pain, and loss while emphasizing the resiliency, optimism, and solidarity that arise after tragedy. The Chuska Warriors, a high school basketball team on the Navajo Reservation, must unite under the new coach Jimmy Holiday (Kauchani Bratt) after their top player Nataanii committed suicide. What might have been a tale of hopelessness turns into one of resilience and healing as basketball becomes the motivating factor for their group's recovery.

Through a deft blending of themes of coming-of-age, bereavement, and community, Freeland's directing crafts an emotionally charged and inspiring story. The movie manages to find a fine balance between exploring the painful nature of loss and being a pure sports story, using basketball as a metaphor for the community's tenacity. With the help of a formidable ensemble cast that includes Jessica Matten and Julia Jones, "Rez Ball" depicts Native American resiliency in addition to highlighting the emotional hardships of its characters. The breathtaking New Mexico vistas are used to provide depth to the tale in this masterfully shot movie. "Rez Ball" delves profoundly into the themes of optimism, loss, and cultural pride.

Forget the cultural differences, this movie has heart. The tropes are common in sports movies, the underdogs fight back in dire circumstances, but it executes to inspire. It speaks from the perspective of those who have plenty to fight for.

There are many movies to compare to but none that have spoken from the voices that have been unheard for a long time. Think Rocky, Coach Carter, and Remember the Titans.

It's worth a watch based solely on understanding those unlike ourselves but with the same inclination to prove they matter. It is not a perfect movie by any means. The young actors do an excellent job of portraying what others like them direly need. Inspiration.

It's worth the watch.

This is a story about a Navajo basketball team, so I wonder why the writers who write the description blurbs on streaming sites and IMBD can't be bothered to state that the team is Navajo, instead of "Native American". OK, that was my one quibble with the way the film is marketed.

The film itself is well produced and has a good cast. The story is, for the most part, believable. It does seem to be aimed at ticking as many boxes as possible for woke points. What's good is the number of relatively new faces in the cast as well as some familiar actors such as Ryan Begay, Kiowa Gordon, Morningstar Angeline and Amber Midthunder. None of the cast did bad jobs with their roles, IMO, all good work.

This deserves way more credit. 6.3/10 is not doing this movie justice. If you like a good bball movie it's definitely one! I'd want to see a bit more background on the coach but really loved the WNBA/lgbtq trope, which off course you see coming when you hear WNBA! I liked the highs and the lows and it was all in all really entertaining.

I don't often write reviews but damn, this is worth it. You can always count on female creators for recommendations! In this case Lily Gladstone and Erica Tremblay came through for the indigenous community and hyped this up! (And no, it's not just about community, this movie was a good one)

Highly recommend for a family movie night or like in my case...a singly single pop corn/wine all alone Saturday movie night 😂