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Movies / On DVD / Finishing the Game
Finishing the Game

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Finishing the Game (2007)

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Reviews Counted:34

Fresh:12

Rotten:22

Average Rating:4.8/10

Consensus: 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.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 88 mins

Genre: Comedies

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... 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
[More]

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

Starring: Roger Fan, Sung Kang, Meredith Scott Lynn, McCaleb Burnett, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Mousa Kraish, Dustin Nguyen

Director: Justin Lin

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

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Release:

Jun 24, 2008

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Reviews for Finishing the Game

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
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Intermittently funny at best, but mostly full of dead air.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/26/07
Los Angeles Times

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

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
10/24/07
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

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

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
10/26/07
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

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

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
11/01/07
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

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

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
10/08/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

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 Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
10/06/07
David Fear
David Fear
Time Out New York

A lot of the gags fall thuddingly flat, but a fair number of them also land squarely on target.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
10/04/07
David Noh
David Noh
Film Journal International

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

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/19/07
David Wiegand
David Wiegand
San Francisco Chronicle

You can easily tell how great a time everyone is having, and it's infectious.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
06/28/08
Don Willmott
Don Willmott
Filmcritic.com

A pleasant surprise with a high concept premise that allows for funnier situations and characters than some of Christopher Guest's last few offerings.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
10/02/07
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

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 Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
10/25/07
Ernest Hardy
Ernest Hardy
L.A. Weekly

You get the sense that Justin Lin has never even seen Game of Death... I've got to imagine there were some actual lines and scenes from Game of Death that would have been funny in this context.

Full Review Source: Can Magazine | comment Comment
10/05/07
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
Can Magazine

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 Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
10/05/07
Gary Goldstein
Gary Goldstein
Reel.com

Ragged, spotty but shrewdly conceived.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
10/04/07
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A faux documentary grounded in ethnicity and mired in absurdity, Finishing the Game is a terrific idea still waiting to be fashioned into a real movie.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
10/05/07
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Misses more comic targets than it hits.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
11/08/07
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

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 Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
10/19/07
Jeff Wong
Jeff Wong
Film Threat

It's a wasted idea.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
10/18/07
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

The search for the next Bruce Lee goes comically awry, but not comically enough, in Finishing the Game, a rice-paper-thin spoof that tries to poke fun at the endangered Hollywood species that is the Asian male actor.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
02/07/07
Justin Chang
Justin Chang
Variety

Good-naturedly confront issues of racism and the stereotyping of Asian-American actors to question whether the bad old days are really so far in the past.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
02/06/07
Justin Lowe
Justin Lowe
Hollywood Reporter
 
 
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