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MOVIES / ON DVD / FINISHING THE GAME
Finishing the Game

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Finishing the Game (2007)

33%
33%
80%
N/A
N/A
N/A
33 %
Reviews Counted: 33 Fresh: 11  Rotten:22 Average Rating: 4.7/10
 
Consensus: The sight gags and comic timing are tired in this mockumentary. Though Justin Lin's premise is precocious enough, the sight gags and comic timing are tired in this mockumentary about Asian typecasting in the 1970s. more
 
Rated: Not Rated
Runtime: 88 mins
Theatrical Release: Oct 5, 2007 Limited
Synopsis:
The unexpected death of Bruce Lee, a world-wide phenomenon and established movie star, came at the zenith of his popularity. Having already shot scenes for his upcoming movie GAME OF DEATH, studio heads decided to complete the film by launching a search for his replacement attracting... [More]
The unexpected death of Bruce Lee, a world-wide phenomenon and established movie star, came at the zenith of his popularity. Having already shot scenes for his upcoming movie GAME OF DEATH, studio heads decided to complete the film by launching a search for his replacement attracting hopefuls from all around the world. FINISHING THE GAME is an uproarious, poignant, unpredictable and action-packed re-imagining of that casting process for Lee's replacement and examines the leaps and bounds Asians have taken in media representation - or have they?
--© IFC Films [Less]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Roger Fan, Sung Kang, Meredith Scott Lynn, McCaleb Burnett, Monique Gabriela Curnen

Director: Justin Lin
Screenwriter: Josh Diamond, Justin Lin
Producer: Julie Asato, Salvador Gatdula, Justin Lin
Composer: Brian Tyler

DVD Info

Release:

Jun 24, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital Stereo - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - 1. Justin Li - Co-Writer/Director 2. Josh Diamond - Co-Writer
  • 3. Brian Tyler - Composer
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Music Videos - 1. Satisfaction

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image

This tedious mockumentary isn't even as entertaining as one of Ed Wood's actual films, and once-promising director Justin Lin has some karma to square for fumbling such a sure thing.

Full Review | Comment
11/16/07 02:35 PM
Mark Rahner
Seattle Times
Ratings Image

What exactly he's trying to say about Bruce Lee's fame and impact or the banal reality of genre moviemaking is unclear at best.

Full Review | Comment
11/15/07 03:29 PM
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Ratings Image

The pace is flat, the celebrity cameos go nowhere, and the smugness of Lin's observations of Asian-Americans and Hollywood smothers the comedy.

Full Review | Comment
11/09/07 10:14 AM
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
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Misses more comic targets than it hits.

Full Review | Comment
11/08/07 05:30 PM
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Ratings Image

There's about five minutes of funny in Finishing the Game, which leaves 83 minutes of "Oh, that same joke again, huh?"

Full Review | Comment
11/01/07 06:48 PM
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Ratings Image

Finishing the Game serves up a kick-ass comedy about a dead martial arts star, starving actors and the Hollywood system.

Full Review | Comment
10/26/07 05:13 PM
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
Ratings Image

Intermittently funny at best, but mostly full of dead air.

Full Review | Comment
10/26/07 11:35 AM
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

The breezy tone and obvious fun being had by the cast make Finishing the Game a slight, low-key cool cinematic essay on identity politics.

Full Review | Comment
10/25/07 11:17 AM
Ernest Hardy
L.A. Weekly
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[T]here's little intriguing or surprising...

Full Review | Comment
10/25/07 10:40 AM
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher
Ratings Image

... too thin to sustain itself, even at a modest 83 minutes.

Full Review | Comment
10/24/07 10:23 PM
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat
Ratings Image

A very funny, equal-opportunity broadside that targets Asian stereotyping, and not just by non-Asians.

Full Review | Comment
10/19/07 01:35 PM
David Wiegand
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

The premise was so golden and in front of our noses for so long, it’s amazing that is has taken this long for someone to do it. I’m still upset that it wasn’t me.

Full Review | Comment
10/19/07 03:15 AM
Jeff Wong
Film Threat
Ratings Image

It's a wasted idea.

Full Review | Comment
10/18/07 02:00 PM
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
Ratings Image

The main reason that I didn't like Justin Lin's new film Finishing the Game is because I wasn't sure at any time what he was trying to make...

Full Review | Comment
10/09/07 12:42 PM
Todd Gilchrist
IGN Movies
Ratings Image

Besmirching Bruce Lee's name like this should be a punishable offense.

Full Review | Comment
10/08/07 11:10 AM
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
Ratings Image

What little potential there is ends up squandered within nanoseconds; as both a parody and a polemic, the film is finished before it’s barely begun.

Full Review | Comment
10/06/07 04:23 AM
David Fear
Time Out New York
Ratings Image

It feels as though everyone involved was having a rollicking good time, and while the film itself is wildly uneven, Lin and company get in a few pointed jabs at Hollywood fatuousness and self-delusion, cultural stereotypes and '70s fashions.

Full Review | Comment
10/05/07 04:22 PM
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Ratings Image

Call it a comic documentary, a true-life comedy, or a Hollywood satire, but however you karate chop this one, it's a kicky, clever, highly amusing romp.

Full Review | Comment
10/05/07 04:21 PM
Gary Goldstein
Reel.com
Ratings Image

Finishing The Game doesn't get anywhere that Hollywood Shuffle didn't go to first.

Full Review | Comment
10/05/07 04:19 PM
Noel Murray
Onion AV Club
Ratings Image

A genially scattershot mockumentary.

Full Review | Comment
10/05/07 04:17 PM
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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