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The Heart of the Game

Darnelia Russell, Bill Resler, Devon Crosby-Helms, Meghan Miller, Jade White

Directed by Ward Serrill
Rolling Stone: star rating
5 3
Community: star rating
5 3 0
June 12, 2006

"Draw blood!" shouts Bill Resler, a tax professor at the University of Washington. He's not encouraging the IRS, he's juicing up the girls' basketball team he coaches on the side. If you're thinking this is another of those cloyingly inspirational Disney sports dramas, such as Glory Road, Stick It and Goal!, think again. Director Ward Serrill, who spent seven years chronicling Resler's experiences with Roosevelt High School's Roughriders, has no stomach for turning documentary truth into a Hallmark card. By focusing on Darnellia Russell, one of the few black players on a white team, Serrill digs deep into the social and economic conditions that threaten to keep Darnellia down and the no-bull spirit she finds in her coach and her own bruised heart. It doesn't matter that the acclaimed Hoop Dreams played the same game. There's no denying the exuberant energy and emotional force of this movie. It gets to you.

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