In the long, long, long line of sports movies, there sure have been a lot of stories told in a similar way. Did you hear the one about the ne’er-do-well who did well? What about the ragtag team of misfits who made it all the way to the finals? Yup, they say if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all, but it’s important to remember that the “they” in that sentence doesn’t speak for everybody. Some of us want to see them all, because these formulas usually add up to a rousing drama.
You can watch Sydney Freeland’s basketball movie “Rez Ball,” which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, and find many of the iconic clichés at work. The hero has a parent who never shows up to his games? That’ll probably be important later. Some unruly players need to learn teamwork? An unusual and slightly wacky chore will get them working in unison. “Rez Ball” even has funny radio commentators giving us huge exposition dumps at every single game. Ah yes, those parts are nice and cozy.
“Rez Ball” is a fine sports drama in any context, and although it’s not afraid to follow the tried-and-true rhythms of the genre, it’s the film’s specificity that’s special. Inspired Michael Powell’s “Canyon Dreams,” a non-fiction book about high school basketball in the Navajo Nation, it tells the story of the fictional Chuska Warriors, a team of Navajo kids which relies heavily on two star players, Nataanii (Kusem Goodwind) and Jimmy (Kauchani Bratt).
Freeland’s film starts out on a devastating note: It’s been one year since Nataani’s mother and sister were killed by a drunk driver, and although he’s a local celebrity and probably has excellent college prospects, he says he dreams of “getting out.” Jimmy assumes he means “out of the reservation,” but when Nataanii doesn’t show up for the next game, it’s clear something is wrong. Nataanii has taken his own life, a tragedy only compounded by the fact that, in this community, it’s not an unusual story.
There’s an aura of pessimism throughout “Rez Ball,” and it’s a pessimism that must be defeated. Jimmy, now the team’s captain, works fast food shifts to pay the bills while his mother drinks most of the money away. She played high school basketball too, but look where she is now. “The higher you go, the greater the fall” she tells her son. “The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.” It’s pretty common for a parent in a sports movie to fail to support their kids’ ambitions, but in Freeland’s film it’s a generational, cultural pain, and it hurts deeply.
The coach of the Chuska Warriors is Heather Hobbs (Jessica Matten, “Dark Winds”), a former WNBA player whose girlfriend just left her, whose job applications to bigger coaching positions are going nowhere, and who probably could have used a bit more characterization beyond that. It’s a solid backstory but from the first act on, her job is to be a great coach, and she is. She is a great coach. “Rez Ball” doesn’t seem terribly interested in her beyond that, and that’s one of the film’s few missteps.
Sydney Freeland and Sterlin Harjo’s screenplay uses the structure of a familiar sporting tale as a justification to dig in and explore the Chuska space. Small stories of people looking out for each other. Sad tales of self-destruction. Affirming dramas about setting things right. “Rez Ball” isn’t just a name for the sport, it’s a unique style of basketball that defines the characters and gives them strength. The time-honored sports movie framework keeps the momentum steady and gives the plot direction, and although these characters and their community could have certainly been the subject of a more complex narrative, there’s still magic in old-fashioned inspiration.
We come back to sports stories because sports are a grand delivery system for tales of self-improvement, and the fundamental drama of competition provides an excellent engine for suspense, even if we usually have a pretty good idea of how each game is going to turn out. If the team has been on a winning streak and the third act is fast approaching, you know damn well they’re about to suffer a last-minute loss to remind them how far they’ve come, how far they have to go, and to make it seem — for at least a few minutes — like maybe these lovable champions might not have a trophy by the time the credits roll. Then again, sports movies shirk that trend just often enough to make us wonder if this time will be an exception. (You’ll just have to find out for yourself.)
“Rez Ball” is a winner, even if it’s not a total game-changer. Its performances are strong — Kauchani Bratt in particular, but across the board — and its tale is moving. A few curveballs get thrown along the way (basketball curveballs? is that a thing?) but from a purely sports genre perspective the tale is, again, kind of familiar. Satisfying, but familiar. The characters and their community make it special. It is, in the end, all about how you play the game.
“Rez Ball” hits Netflix on Sept. 27.
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