Spirit of the Game

This had a short theatrical run with negative press reviews. My cousin and his wife saw it and raved about it so my wife and I decided to chance it. So gland that we did. This is a fascinating true story of a group of missionaries who are called upon to use their basketball skills to help the Australia's first basketball team prepare the for the Olympics being held in Melbourne. The missionaries became known as the Mormon Yankees. You don't have to been LDS (Mormon) to enjoy this film. Well acted, directed and a good script this is a film that I'm glad that I didn't miss. Just purchased the DVD and a second viewing confirms my original views. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

As for the movie itself, absolutely terrible. The pacing is slow, the acting is very dry. There are transitions that seem like they were pieced together without any thought for setting up the story arch. In the first 20 minutes several major events take place, including periods of time that span weeks or more, and you would hardly have a clue till a few scenes later that that's what just happened.I'm usually not the most critical when it comes to witnessing bad acting but I have never seen so much horrible acting in my life. I was not sold on almost anyone's performance. Especially the antagonists.These American missionaries are attempting to evangelize Aussies, (do Mormons call it evangelism?), and at first their head elder doesn't want them to be involved with anything outside of door knocking. But after that changes, the whole movie pivots around them playing basketball. As a Christian myself, one redeeming quality this movie COULD have had, would have been to shine a little brighter in the faith based side of it's plot. There were one or two moments of inspiring dialogue to help shift a perspective from one of despair to possibility, and that rightly came through the Father figure, played by Kevin Sorbo. In this way the movie touched the heart but just that one moment alone?... I can just watch my favorite ministers elsewhere for that. As a movie I can not recommend skipping this enough. I'm surprised it has so many high ratings, and to be honest, that was the main reason I chose to watch it at all. It's hard to find "feel good" movies that are actually fulfilling without making you feel like you need to take a shower afterwards. I would give this zero stars if I could.

I enjoyed this film, set in the recent history of Australia. My husband who is a referee enjoyed it even more. Spirit of the Game is the true narrative of American Mormon Basketball players who are on religious missions to the land down under. When coaches for the Australian Olympic Basketball team discover that these talented young men are in their midst, they attempt to recruit them to train their players, but there is a "fly in the ointment" -- the mission president wants his missionaries to forget about the game as well as the girls at home while they teach about Jesus Christ. The coaches make a strong argument. The missionaries, do, too: Maybe more families will listen to their message if people become familiar with them. Will the mission president relent? You'll have to watch the movie to find out.

Sports Dramas are my favorite movie genre. I thought this movie title seemed like an interesting movie to watch and saw it had good reviews so I gave it a shot. I didn't know it was a movie of Latter-Day Saint Missionaries when I started it, and was pleasantly surprised when I found out. The movie didn't get into any Mormon theology so it should appeal to ALL people of ALL faiths. The story focused on overcoming personal struggles and was a feel good movie at the end when the young missionaries were able to find their purpose; not just to play great basketball exhibition games for the Olympic teams, but in so doing to be of service to "all fellow men" and to also plant a seed of faith.

Interesting story about how Mormon missionaries struggled to connect with Australians until they became involved in playing basketball with Olympic teams. The movie starts out a bit slow and definitely has strong LDS themes that not everyone will relate to (e.g., serving a mission and the challenges associated with it). That being said, there is tons of basketball and the underlying story is pretty compelling.It's a good, clean flick that was worth watching. Was the acting top notch? No, but what do you expect from a budget film in a niche area of film?P.S. Did you catch the Elder Groberg cameo from Other Side of Heaven?

This movie tells the true story of The Mormon Yankees,a basketball team made up of missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints(LDS). They came to Australia initially on a mission to reach people for Christ, They were met with great reluctance,until one of them,DeLyle Condie,remembered something his father told him"Find common ground with them". That common ground turned out to be basketball and through that, the country and its people were changed. Kevin Sorbo was awesome as DeLyle's father,who provided a great example for this son. Aaron Jakubenko did an awesome job as DeLyle. From this movie,I gained a greater understanding of the Mormon religion. I would wholeheartedly recommend it!

Hadn't heard of this movie. Didn't know what it was about except basketball; it turned out to be about more than basketball. It was also about sportsmanship and character. I was pleasantly surprised. Great story.

A great movie that isn't cheesy.

Action or chick flick? How about an exciting sports movie, with an actual reality drama component? Moving and fun, not predictable cookie cutter action. Saw it on Living Scriptures first and bought it anyway to keep and give away as gifts. Got lots of high fives from friends.