Tulsa World: 'More Than a Game' a fantastic sports documentary

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"More Than a Game" a fantastic sports documentary

LeBron James leads his team in high school. Courtesy

By MICHAEL SMITH World Scene Writer
Published: 10/30/2009 5:13 PM
Last Modified: 10/30/2009 6:17 PM

"More Than a Game” is more than a simple sports documentary, in much the same way that this new film emphasizes that basketball is more than what happens on the court. It can be a builder of character, a molder of men, a lesson in trusting others.

The fact that young filmmaker Kristopher Belman began this project by shooting video of an Akron, Ohio, junior high school team in 1998, and that all-world NBA star LeBron James was among the players, is a stroke of good fortune and the reason that this documentary exists.

But Belman’s substance as a storyteller is displayed through his realization that while James is the star of this particular show, the team’s coach is the most valuable player.

Dru Joyce is that kind of junior high coach many of us have known: He’s the coach because he’s the only parent who would do it. The former football player is all the boys need to win early on, as seen in crudely produced video of games in small gyms, considering the talent on the floor.

But as the boys age and the games grow more serious in high school, Joyce is under pressure to win and to massage that delicate balance between too-critical coach or father to his own son. Belman has the intelligence and the access to show how a man overcomes a limited basketball IQ by teaching boys to become men.

Most will find their way into a theater for “More Than a Game” due to James’ presence. There is no disappointment in either the game footage (dunks, no-look passes and 3-point bombs galore) or the look at how a team unites and how teens

withstand intense scrutiny when one member far surpasses the others in both skill and accolades.

The coach’s effort is always evident in shaping James to be the man he is today, that of arguably one of the better role models in the sports world.

During a junior season in high school in which an arrogant team — led by The Chosen One (as James was dubbed by Sports Illustrated at age 17), who at the time had yet to add humility and sacrifice to his skill set — does not meet its goals, it is Joyce’s father-figure ways that keep the hoop dreams alive.

Belman pulls off a nifty filmmaking trick through the use of graphics that make the presentation of newspaper clippings more lively, and in seeming to animate the players’ family photos, making more vivid the illustration of present-day interviews with Akron’s Fab Five players.

We get to know these young men so well that by the time James’ upbringing is presented fully near the end (his mother had him at 16, life in the projects, never known his father), we understand why James remains emotionally tied to his young teammates still today: They have always been there for him, and as more than an entourage.

“More Than a Game” is a winner at showing how the games of basketball and life should be played. By MICHAEL SMITH World Scene Writer

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Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "More Than a Game," which was published on 10/31/2009. So far, 0 comments have been made.