Finishing the Game serves up a kick-ass comedy about a dead martial arts star, starving actors and the Hollywood system.
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10/26/07
Finishing the Game (2007)
35
%
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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.
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... [More]
Starring: Roger Fan, Sung Kang, Meredith Scott Lynn, McCaleb Burnett
Director: Justin Lin
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Reviews for Finishing the Game
A lot of the gags fall thuddingly flat, but a fair number of them also land squarely on target.
10/04/07
A very funny, equal-opportunity broadside that targets Asian stereotyping, and not just by non-Asians.
10/19/07
You can easily tell how great a time everyone is having, and it's infectious.
06/28/08
A pleasant surprise with a high concept premise that allows for funnier situations and characters than some of Christopher Guest's last few offerings.
10/02/07
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.
10/25/07
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.
10/05/07
Ragged, spotty but shrewdly conceived.
10/04/07
Top CriticThe 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.
10/19/07
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.
02/06/07
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.
10/05/07
Equal parts affectionately silly and insightfully satirical.
01/26/07
Intermittently funny at best, but mostly full of dead air.
10/26/07
... too thin to sustain itself, even at a modest 83 minutes.
10/24/07
There's about five minutes of funny in Finishing the Game, which leaves 83 minutes of "Oh, that same joke again, huh?"
11/01/07
Besmirching Bruce Lee's name like this should be a punishable offense.
10/08/07
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.
10/06/07
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.
10/05/07
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.
10/05/07
Top CriticMisses more comic targets than it hits.
11/08/07
Latest News for Finishing the Game
October 06, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review 
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