More Than A Game is one of the best sports documentaries I have ever seen – and definitely one of the best documentaries I have seen this year. More Than A Game is about basketball on the surface. But underneath lies a real message of friendship, loyalty, and being a family. This film is about boys who became men, and they did not let anything stop them from achieving their dream.
The Fab Four (later to become the Fab Five) consisted of Lebron James, Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, Willie McGee, and Romeo Travis. All talented basketball players from Akron, Ohio. These guys came from an inner-city gym that came from the Salvation Army to becoming high school national champions. And it was not easy.
Joyce III was one of the smallest players and did not look like he belonged in high school. However, after a game in which he scored 6 3-pointers in just over a minute, his size took a backseat to his talent. His father, Dru Joyce II, became their coach and he barely had any experience at all with coaching. He did not even come from basketball. He was a football guy, but changed his interest for his son.
Once James started to gain the attention of the nation and became a celebrity, this started to change the focus of the team and became a big distraction. The team lost their focus and they paid for it at the end of one of their seasons.
This documentary goes through seven years of these guys’ lives, and I just named a few of their obstacles. This team was met with adversity and went to a high school where they were the only black guys there. Again, this documentary has basketball in it, but More Than A Game is about dedication and life’s journey.
We get a personal invite into each of their lives and what they went through. We hear about their experiences growing up and how important this team and the players were to them. The talent of these basketball players is amazing. But their coach (Joyce II) took a lot on himself. He was put under a microscope.
Here is a man who knew nothing about the game, but he changed that. There is a scene in the film in which he shows all of his books that were written by coaches and he read all of them. He learned and educated himself, and he became a successful coach. Something he never dreamed of in a million years.
More Than A Game is not LeBron’s documentary. He may be the most noticeable face in the film, but it is about a team who became a family. There is so much appreciation between these players and their coach. Even after what all these guys went through, I do not think they would change a thing. No regrets. They lived and learned and became better people, better players, and a great team. And all of them still remain a family.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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