We've all seen those sports movies where our hero from the other side of the tracks overcomes adversity to score a point for the triumph of the human spirit, and this one has every cliché. There's the unlikely, fish-out-of-water coach with his cheesy motivational speeches, the archrival team guaranteed to be on the other end of the court during the final game and even bureaucratic forces frustrating us with their attempts to keep our hero from playing at all. The difference is, this time it's real.
That old, overweight tax professor screaming, "Draw blood!" really is the coach. That rival team actually exists and honestly did earn its way to the State Championship game. And the WIAA really did try to stop star player Darnellia Russell from returning to the team after she dropped out of high school briefly to give birth to her child. With the final court decision on the matter pending, Darnellia's teammates insist on letting her play anyway, even though it could ultimately mean forfeiting every game. You couldn't write tearjerker moments like this. No, really—you couldn't. As fiction they would come off as hammy, contrived and manipulative. But as fact, they are truly inspirational.
Ward Serrill spent seven years documenting this high school girls' basketball team and ultimately stumbled upon an uncannily cinematic underdog story. As is the case in many documentaries, Serrill searched for the film's focus as he went. The result is that earlier parts of the film mention Darnellia more often than they actually show her (she doesn't speak until the 40-minute mark, and it's her story), but once Serrill realizes where he should be pointing his camera, he captures some of the best basketball drama I've seen since Hoosiers.
In classic sports-movie fashion, with a few seconds left on the clock, Darnellia is left with the final game-deciding shot. Will it go in? A Hollywood producer would insist on it, but here, no one gets to make that call. And by this point, the documentary has already been uplifting enough to justify its theatrical release, so it could really go either way. But you'll find yourself hoping beyond hope that the shot does go in, and that's exactly what a great sports movie is supposed to do.