Guy Love

Butch and Sundance. Turk and JD. LeBron and his boys. These are some examples of unabashed hetero boy-on-boy love.

More Than a Game – director Kristopher Belman’s emotional and engaging documentary – began as a 10 minute student film, but turned into a feature because he was so captured by the camaraderie of the guys on the team. Essentially, it tells the story of the five starters for the St. Vincent-St. Mary High School basketball team, four of whom had been best friends and teammates since they were ten years old. The team is coached by Dru Joyce, whose son Dru Jr. is one of the starters.

One of the players happens to be LeBron James, but the movie is not just about him. It’s about the close and intimate bonds that men can create (and should not be afraid to) as friends, as brothers (real and metaphorical) and as fathers and sons. This film joins Hoop Dreams and The Heart of the Game as one of the best sports documentaries ever. What is it about basketball I wonder?

Making men cry

More than a game-There’s no better way to make a grown man cry than a sports movie.
There are certain types of films that transcend the festival and attract a much different demographic than the backpack-porting bespectacled TIFF afficianado. At the beginning of the film the programmer asked for a show of hands for festival virgins and over half of the patrons in the Ryerson raised their hands. The theatre was full of young basketball fans straining for a glimpse of LeBron James. They got that and much more. The ten second pitch could be ‘Hoop Dreams with a happy ending’. The film gives the viewer a unique representation of a group of young black American males who create their own nuclear family out of a basketball team. I found myself identifying most with Romeo-if only because he is described as someone who wakes up angry. LeBron’s growing celebrity throughout the years only seems to be an issue with the media and other teams. His teammates never appear to be affected by his popularity except to enjoy the reflected spotlight.
Almost all of the usual sports clichés are present and accounted for, and yet when the coach says he cares more about making them men than winning you believe it.