The one trap that a sports documentary should never fall into is to rely on the cliche of the big game that plagues their fictional counterparts. Remember, a documentary should provide information and give the audience food for thought before attempting to entertain the audience. Take the pleasing documentary, "The
Heart of the Game," for instance, which is about Bill Resler, a tax professor at the University of Washington who is hired to be the girls' basketball coach at Roosevelt High School. In his first year, through his innovative and unique methods, he coaches the team to the State Championships.(He is also maybe the most understanding coach in history.) In his second, talented but underachieving Darnellia Russell joins the team. Documentarian Ward Serrill gets the ending he wanted but not quite the afterword. What troubles me most is that the viewer may have been manipulated into having a rooting interest for Roosevelt High School, even though there is an equally compelling story at rival Garfield High School. Regretfully, the documentary only scratches the surface of the history of women's athletics. Any player may dream of going pro but that's what it mostly is, just a dream. The reality should be to concentrate on a player-athlete's education, getting her a scholarship to a university where she can continue her education and better her life. And is Seattle really that segregated?
November 5, 2007
Top Critic
