Spirit of the Game

Spirit of the Game is a 2016 biographical film written and directed by Darran Scott aka Darran Page with cinematography by Brian J. Breheny (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert). The film is based on the true story of the Mormon Yankees, an American basketball team which played in exhibition games before the 1956 Summer Olympics. The film stars, Aaron Jakubenko, Kevin Sorbo, Wade Briggs, Grant Pino and Anna McGahan.

For sportsmanship in Ultimate, see Ultimate (sport) § Spirit of the game.

Spirit of the Game
Directed byDarran Scott aka Darran Page
Produced bySteve Jaggi
Spencer McLaren
Kate Whitebread
Written byDarran Scott aka Darran Page
StarringAaron Jakubenko
Kevin Sorbo
Wade Briggs
Grant Pino
Anna McGahan
Music byNed McPhie
Matt Rudduck
CinematographyBrian J. Breheny
Edited byAdrian Powers
Production
company
The Steve Jaggi Company
McLaren House
KW Films
Distributed bySamuel Goldwyn Films
Purdie Distribution
Momo Films
Sony Picture Home Entertainment
Release date
  • 7 October 2016 (2016-10-07)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Plot

It’s 1956 and 20 year old Delyle Condie travels to Melbourne, Australia, on a Mission for his Church in an attempt to recover from a broken heart. He leaves behind a promising basketball career and finds himself in a city gripped with Olympic fever. Delyle struggles to maintain his spirits when faced with the indifference of the locals, but when an opportunity to help train Australia’s first Olympic basketball team arises, Delyle sees his chance to connect. His passion leads to the formation of the Mormon Yankees basketball team, and in the run up to the Games, fierce competition with the French leads to a bloody rematch, through which Delyle and his Yankees are able to prove their faith - and their mettle - to the world.

Cast
  • Aaron Jakubenko as DeLyle Condie
  • Kevin Sorbo as Parley Condie
  • Wade Briggs as Don Hull
  • Grant Piro as Ken Watson
  • Anna McGahan as Elspeth
  • Heidi Arena as Mary Condie
  • Mark Mitchell as President Bingham
  • Alex Cooke as Elder Garn
  • Brenton Cosier as Elder Kimball
  • Andrew Hearle as Elder Frodsham
  • Rudi Baker as Stan Page
  • Cameron Caulfield as Brett
  • Emilie Cocquerel as Emily

Reception

The Deseret News criticised the "stiff acting" in the movie, but highlighted Piro's performance and described the story as "compelling".[1] The Salt Lake Tribune thought the film was full of "ponderous piety" but praised Sorbo for adding some gravitas to his role.[2]

References
  1. Terry, Josh (7 October 2016). "Fascinating true story of 'Spirit of the Game' is undermined by poor execution". The Deseret News. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  2. Means, Sean P. (6 October 2016). "Movie review: Mormon sports drama 'Spirit of the Game' misses the mark". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.