34th Toronto International Film Festival saw the release of three new films. ‘Unstoppable’ and ‘The Fire Inside’ are two of such films and then there was director Sydney Freeland’s ‘Rez Ball.’ It has been a while since we have seen an inspirational sports movie, but as it seems, they are slowly making their way back to the screens. The film, based on the non fiction adaptation of the novel Canyon Dreams and co written with Sterlin Harjo (co creator of Reservation Dogs), covers one basketball season with a Navajo Reservation basketball team that wins the state championship in New Mexico even though it also covers the struggles of the players.
From the beginning of the movie, you more or less know the key turning points of the plot, with the introduction of the teammates and their struggles being the first one. The first and the star player that is introduced into the scene is Nataanii Jackson (Kusem Goodwind), who just lost his mother and sister to a drunk driver a year ago. His other closest companion, Jimmy Holiday (Charming Kauchani Bratt), has to get a job in a burger restaurant to help his single mother Gloria (Julia Jones). And there is Coach Hobbs (Jessica Matten) a WNBA star who has returned home, but is now struggling to find a purpose in her life.
Although Nataanii successfully led the team to win in their opening match of the season and moved to pick their spirits up after the loss to their father, one could still tell that the loss of his relatives has left an impact on him.
His body remains narrow and self absorbed as if it were a fortress that no one can get through. However, while on the court, he leaps and scores with astounding ease. He plays basketball as if it is a day to day activity for him. But there is a deep sense of sadness, almost a sort of weight in his persona, which is rare among his fellow players. News comes that breaks the heart of the team when he does not turn up for the next match. Reservations have very high rates of death by suicide in the country and it appears that this young sportsman feels he cannot cope with the burden of his loss anymore.
The narrative then takes a turn towards Jimmy, suggesting that he was previously a character on the fringes of the story; it is a sudden, jarring turn of perspective that enables Freeland to immerse the audience within the character’s thoughts. This pressure is truly deepened when Coach Hobbs, who has the daunting task of helping this team deal with its bereavement and the season, makes effective use of Jimmy and elects him as the team’s captain. Her bonding activities are quite different and amusing. In one of the outings, she takes them to the mountains to catch stray goats from her grandmother’s sheep farm that they have to herd back into the pen. At this point, Jimmy begins to appreciate the importance of Navajo culture in his life, particularly the language.
The team manages to embed themselves in new traditions to regain lost strength and even an advantage by calling their plays in their own language which makes it difficult for their opponents to decipher. It serves the film one of its best jokes as it features a reference to the movie “Windtalkers” starring Nicolas Cage. Also, we thank Harjo and Freeland for the humor incorporated within the script’s darker themes, such as snarking on themselves, and robbing useless banter from one of the two talking heads who rummaged through an eternal stash of frybread laughs. As a result, the film can be said to be a blend of the old and the new.
In his cinematography, Freeland is great as he captures their sequences in shooting the basketball with camera movements that are quick and aggressive as the ball moves followed by slow motion which is stylish when the whole team is working together to score points. In between these well crafted action scenes there are also plenty of character development scenes that help the main actors of the film to show their individual struggles, joys and all the interesting things that make them human. Its a pity that, because of the numerous cast members of the film, some of the characters do not get such a development as they deserve. For instance, facilitates the sight of bona fide Amber Midthunder unable to display his full range of talents by basically being the support girlfriend character and she still does her best with all of her little scenes.
Also, the threads of the main storylines are also left dangling too much and there are few attempts to address them which are often carried over to the next scene. Coach Hobbs spends long periods detached from the narrative concerning his emotional development, which in turn affects the impact of the final parts of her story. And while there may be more to it, there is little else to Krista’s character other than to assist Jimmy in learning A Navajo language as it relates to a shared plot device. Nonetheless, the parallel journeys between Jimmy are well balanced between that of his mother. He takes pride in the responsibilities of leadership and his heritage while she gets over her negative attitude, supporting herself with work and attending AA to combat her alcoholism.
With all its structural defects, “Rez Ball” is an engaging read filled with motivational elements that never feels sappy. Its pulse and its jokes have a familiarity that is both particular to a community and accessible to everyone. And, quite frankly, it’s enjoyable from the beginning to the end. I am pleased to inform the audience, a renaissance of the feel good sports movie is well underway.
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