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i must have seen a different film!!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

As a big sports fan (with football near the top of that list), I am usually a sucker for these kinds of movies. I can watch "We Are Marshall" at just about any time, I enjoyed every episode of "Friday Night Lights", and am easily "hooked in" by an inspiring sports tale. Unfortunately, I found "When The Game Stands Tall" to be a bit sup-par in the area of truly firing my emotions.For a basic plot summary, this movie tells the story of the De La Salle high school Spartans, who at one point in their history enjoyed a consecutive win streak of 151 games in their football program. But what happens when the cart ends up in front of the horse and the streak overshadows the true nature of high school football? That is the issue that Coach Bob Ladouceur (Jim Caviezel) wrestles with for nearly the entire film.For those who have not watched a ton of sports fiction, you may rate this better than I. It is an inspiring story, to be sure, and the film does a good job of "telling it straight". It covers all the right ground and hits all the notes that a film like this needs to do in order to be successful.The problem? Never once during "When The Game Stands Tall" did I truly feel emotionally invested in the proceedings. I think this was for a number of reasons, one of which simply being that I've seen better in other films/TV shows. There is nothing about "Game" that sets it above (or really even apart) from other fare besides the true story it is telling. Even the acting was a bit shaky for me. None of the players stood out, while Caviezel isn't given an opportunity to really emote. I know he CAN as I've seen him do it in other films, but I felt like this time he spoke in the same, measured voice he is known for and always had the same expression on his face. I wanted to like him more and get a better understanding of what "made him tic", but this movie would always seem to pull away and instead just skim the surface.Thus, "When The Game Stands Tall" ended up being a 2.5 star movie for me. I was really excited to see it going into the theater, but that excitement did not translate into the greatest movie experience. I can appreciate the story and why director Thomas Carter wanted to put it up on the big screen, but I wish I could have FELT more and THOUGHT less while I was watching.

I'm not a big athlete, I don't follow any sports and I'm not a "sports guy" but I love a good sports movie. Some of my favourite movies are sports films because they tend to be full of emotion and drama and intensity. Think of all the classic films that revolve around sports in some way. There is something heroic and inspiring about sports films. So when I originally saw the trailer for When The Game Stands Tall I was practically foaming at the mouth. It had all the earmarks of being one of those uplifting, tear inducing films that leave you cheering. For one reason or another I kept putting off watching it, and putting it off and putting it off and finally...MONTHS later, I watched it. Probably it was partially marred by my expectations. That was inevitable. Not that this was a bad movie at all but it didn't set itself above or beyond any other film that has come before it. Some of the performances were very stiff and while I have absolutely no problem with a spiritual film or a Christian message, I think they let it lead the film rather than making it a part of the story and building around those morals. The film is incredibly predictable and doesn't even try to set itself apart.Jim Caviezel is an excellent actor. We've seen him done some solid roles but this is not one. He is so stiff in this role. I don't know if he's purposely playing the role moody and broody but he barely shows emotion even when he's giving passionate speeches. He seems downright hard and it makes it tough for us as viewers to relate to him and see him as a hero to the kids. He didn't play this role well at all. Michael Chiklis was good but severely underused as the assistant coach. Laura Dern is also very underused as Caviezel's wife. They could have focused on how his career has affected his marriage but she overacts the scenes she is in and that isn't many. The kids are decent but nobody stands out and that is a big problem too. Alexander Ludwig should be the focus but he isn't strong enough to carry the part and he ends up being just okay. Clancy Brown, Matthew Daddario, Joe Massingill, Jessie Usher and Stephan James give some of the more notable performances and they are all good but a movie like this could have given the opportunity for great performances but no one does.Director Thomas Carter comes from Television and he struggles to really pull this cast together to tell a good story in the window of a feature film. The script just feels clumsy but the morals are certainly there, the story is effective enough and families and young athletes can watch this and get something from it. It would probably be more effective to read about the real coach and real story but this is a good place to start. I certainly don't mean to bash the movie but I had such high expectations because this is really an easy genre to nail. The recipe is clearly cut by many films before it and I'm pretty easy to impress even if it is being predictable. This one was mostly forgettable and I will forever remember waiting so long for it to be just okay. 7/10

My title line above is a quote toward the end of the movie, "When the Game Stands Tall." Bev Ladouceur, wife of Coach Bob Ladouceur, says that to an angry dad in the stands who wants his son to score one more touch down to break the state scoring record. But, the coach has let the quarterback on his team call the final plays as they are winning their last game for a championship. The team is in close scoring range. Chris Ryan is the running back who can break the state record. As the team huddles, Ryan notes that the team hadn't yet shown its gratitude to the coach. He had returned to lead them through the season after having suffered a stroke. The boys take their helmets off and raise them in a salute to their coach, and the whole stadium joins in. Then, for the last three snaps, and within easy scoring range and likelihood, Ryan takes the place of the quarterback. He takes three consecutive snaps of the ball and goes down on one knee to end the game. It was a class act for the team and the boys. And that's what this movie is about, more than anything. It's a true story of a coach, Bob Ladouceur, and a school, De La Salle High School in Concord, California. They hold many football records, including the longest winning streak ever. But, most importantly, it's about teaching and shaping teen males to become men. Of course, this film has a lot of football action. So, it keeps moving at a nice pace. The film is based on a book by the same title, about Coach Bob Ladouceur and the De La Salle high school football team he led to the longest winning streak in the history of high school football. De La Salle High School at Concord, CA, won 151 consecutive games over 12 years. The early part of the movie is a snapshot of the climb of the streak, and then goes to the day the streak was snapped when De La Salle played Bellevue, WA. The bulk of the movie from there is about what happens after that, and the coach and team losing two games and then going undefeated for the rest of the next season. I agree with the other reviewers who think this may be the most inspiring sports movie ever made. And, there have been some very good ones over the years – from all major sports. Apparently, California high schools aren't divided into competition classes by size. The largest high school is Long Beach Polytech that had 4,745 students in 2013. Only five schools in its area were over 3,000 students that year. But, the schools are organized by divisions that have a mix of all size schools. De La Salle is one of 19 high schools in the Concord, CA, area (10 public and nine private). Many of those don't have football teams. Eleven high schools have fewer than 100 students and two others have fewer than 500. Only five schools have more than 1,000 students, and De La Salle is the smallest of those with 1,051 students. De La Salle competes in the state's Division 1, which has 19 schools. It is the smallest of those schools, most of which are two to three times larger than De La Salle. The largest is James Logan H.S. in Union City, with 4,133 students. The next smallest, after De La Salle, is Antioch High with 1,970 students. It's the only other high school in the division with fewer than 2,000 students, and it's still almost twice the size of De La Salle. The movie is based on Coach Ladouceur and the teams before 2004 – up to that year. That's when the school's 151-game winning streak came to an end. But, it's also when the school's comeback began. And, after that, from 2004-2013, De La Salle under Coach Bob Ladouceur went 127-12-2. It never finished outside the Top 10 in California prep football, it finished No. 1 four times and it won four state championships in a row. Bob Ladouceur stepped down in 2012 but stayed on as a volunteer to help the head coach. In his coaching career, Ladouceur had a record of 399-25-3. His record gave him a winning percentage of .937. During his career, he was offered head coach positions at the college level. All would have paid him much more than he made as a high school teacher and coach. But he turned them all down. Newspaper articles about his amazing career, said he was a teacher first. Indeed, the film brings that out. Jim Caviezel is excellent as Bob Ladouceur in this movie. All the cast are very good and the script, direction, filming and all aspects of this film are very good. This is an inspiring movie for all, and sports enthusiasts, players, and parents especially should get a lot out of the film.

This was inspired by a true story.California High School football coach Bob Ladouceur (Jim Caviezel) takes the De La Salle high school to 151 straight victories. This movie starts when the streak is broken and how everyone handles it. This is one of those movies that gets better and better as it goes along. Bob Ladouceur insists that it not about scoring touchdowns and winning. But he has a method of teaching that actually insures that scoring touchdowns and winning will result. He says his main goal is to prepare his young players to be able to handle life after school so whatever happens, they can be counted on. Simply said, it works. Because of his belief in how he teaches and what he believes, he turns down offers to coach college football. This is well acted all around and the hard-hitting (ouch, ouch, ouch) scenes on the football field appear to be quite real (Hey, Bob, it's movie magic). Well, I hope so, but I checked with my doctor anyway. So far he says I am good to watch more of these hits. Ouch!The father of the Quarterback wants his son to achieve the record for the most touchdowns in High School competition nationwide. And, it is here the ending is nothing short of Pure Gold. You will be touched. Also, you will understand why the title is perfect. (7/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.