The basketball stars aligned when coach Dru Joyce II started a traveling basketball team at a Salvation Army in Akron, Ohio, for his son Joyce III. James, Cotton, and McGee joined the team, became quick friends and started winning games -- lots of games. While the 'Fab Four' dominate the court, it's Coach Joyce that is the shining star of the film. He opens up during his on-screen interviews -- leaving everything on the screen. From guilt at being too hard on his son as both coach and father, to his fears and doubts of whether he could take over the head coaching reigns when the team needed him most, Coach Joyce lets us share in his dream -- not one he dreamed of as a kid, but one he grew to love. Following the coach's cue, all the players talk candidly about their troubled upbringings and off-court troubles. It's the honesty Belman pulls from his cast that makes the film work.
Where the film drops the ball is when it tries to juggle the basketball team's continuing success, James' growing stardom, and the new challenges, both as a team and individually, that come with popularity. After an hour of a character-driven narrative, the film devolves into standard sports story plot-by-numbers -- the team wins, the team faces challenges, and the team overcomes them. The game montages start to swirl together to the point where we're not sure what game in the season we're watching, which takes away any sense of importance.
In the last third of the film, the other characters begin to fade into the background as the James hype train starts chugging along. Of course, it's hard not to focus on James' phenomenal ability, but Belman simply retells the media whirlwind instead of offering insight into how it personally affected James and his friends. Whereas James opened up about his troubled childhood, the personal impact of fame is glossed over in favor of the media controversy that surrounded him and how it affected the team's eligibility and ranking. We miss the personal insight from the film's early half. Luckily, Belman's impressive collection of candid photographs and home video of the players keeps the emotional core grounded. With the help of Coach Joyce's returning commentary in the end moments, we pull through this long third act still connected to the players who made high school basketball more than a game.
The DVD includes three making-of featurettes.
