I really enjoy come-from-behind sports films: KARATE KID, McFARLAND USA, HOOSIERS, MIRACLE. This film's trailer had that quality.
What is delivered is a film that can't multi-task, has gaping holes and painful questions that are not resolved, and fails to strongly define an army of characters.
Act 1 starts off promising, local stare returns home and faces a town full of people who seem not to ahve moved on.
Act 2 turns into a "church fixes everything" saga, but there is a crisis situation and the main character's response -- or lack thereof -- is never explained.
Act 3 truncates a sports champion film and hangs it on the end. Sadly, there is zero resolution for the host of other characters. There is a little congratulatory cheer and then it just ends.
There are truly some likeable actors in what amount to a series of extended cameos -- there is no fabric to this film, it is not a woven piece, but a collection of bits. The actors are underserved by a script that rarely ventures below the surface; and when it tries, the effort is one-off. Listing off subplots and dramas would reveal what seems like a checklist, not an intricate interplay of realistic lives and characters.
What is delivered is a film that can't multi-task, has gaping holes and painful questions that are not resolved, and fails to strongly define an army of characters.
Act 1 starts off promising, local stare returns home and faces a town full of people who seem not to ahve moved on.
Act 2 turns into a "church fixes everything" saga, but there is a crisis situation and the main character's response -- or lack thereof -- is never explained.
Act 3 truncates a sports champion film and hangs it on the end. Sadly, there is zero resolution for the host of other characters. There is a little congratulatory cheer and then it just ends.
There are truly some likeable actors in what amount to a series of extended cameos -- there is no fabric to this film, it is not a woven piece, but a collection of bits. The actors are underserved by a script that rarely ventures below the surface; and when it tries, the effort is one-off. Listing off subplots and dramas would reveal what seems like a checklist, not an intricate interplay of realistic lives and characters.