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This fascinating documentary, reportedly filmed over seven years, focuses on Bill Resler, a University of Washington economics professor whose abiding interest in sports compels him to moonlight as coach for a girls' high school basketball team. Gradually, the energetic coach turns Roosevelt High's perennially losing Roughriders into tournament contenders, mostly by treating his players as if they were males and driving them relentlessly. Resler comes off as an intimidating figure -- at one point he urges the girls, "Sink your teeth in their necks! Draw blood!" -- but he genuinely cares for his youthful charges. The film shifts its focus in the second half to Darnella Russell, a gifted African-American player (one of the team's few) who sees basketball as her best chance for a college scholarship. Her self-destructive behavior and violent temper get in the way, and even Resler's support isn't enough to keep her on track. This part of the story generates unexpected drama and suspense, and makes an already compelling movie positively riveting. You don't have to be a hoops fanatic to find entertainment in this film: There's plenty of "game," but even more "heart." Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Bill Resler was a professor at the University of Washington who had possessed a passionate interest in basketball. Resler decided to put his love of the game to work when he heard that Seattle's Roosevelt High School needed a coach for their women's basketball team. Despite having almost no experience as a coach, Resler landed the job, and soon began making a difference with the team, firing his players up with enthusiasm and encouraging them to think of themselves not as girl basketball players, but as athletes. Resler's coaching helped to turn a team that usually sat near the bottom of the rankings into serious contenders for a district championship, and produced at least one star player, point guard Darnella Russell. Russell is a gifted player who hopes she can turn her talent on the court into a college scholarship, since her family can't afford to send her on their own dime, but Russell also has a sharp tongue and a short temper that has earned her a reputation as a disciplinary problem. When Russell becomes pregnant, she finds herself fighting to remain in school, and to hold on to her eligibility to play on the team in the future. The Heart of the Game is a documentary which examines Bill Resler's fight to rebuild the women's basketball program at Roosevelt and Russell's battle to stay in the game. The Heart of the Game earned an enthusiastic reception following its screenings at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 786936704594
• Source: MIRAMAX
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Dubbed
• Time: 1:38:00
• Sales Rank: 2,185

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