October 28, 2009

Documentary ‘More Than A Game’ celebrates virtues, not stars

By John Gleason

Friendship, loyalty and desire—those are the themes explored in a new documentary now in limited release, which is getting high praise.

The film, “More Than A Game,” is the story of five friends from Akron, Ohio, who played on the same basketball team from the time they were boys right through high school when, in the 2003 basketball season, the team became national champions.  One member of that group was NBA star LeBron James who leads the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

But the film isn’t a tribute to James; rather it deals with pain, competition and what friends do for each other in order to succeed. The film’s focus is actually on the boys’ coach, Dru Joyce II, who still coaches for St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron.

Joyce coached the boys from the first time they came together on the recreation center basketball court as fifth-graders.  He said that sitting in the theater and watching the story unfold on the screen was a humbling experience.
“We never envisioned anything like this,” he told the Denver Catholic Register.  “We were living our lives, trying to do something special with basketball and here God blessed something small and made it into something great.  We’re thankful to (director) Kristopher Belman for making this movie.”

At the start of the 2003 high school basketball season, the boys basketball team of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron had already caught the eye of the national media, with James at the center of the attention.  But James, who would be drafted by the Cavaliers right out of high school, wasn’t going to be the star of the movie, which at the time was going to be nothing more than a 10-minute documentary for a film class.

“All practices were closed to the national media by then,” Joyce said, “But I allowed Kris to film for two reasons: he was from Ohio and he was film student working for a grade.”

Originally, Belman was going to attend several practices and one game, but the players were so taken with “the camera guy” as they took to calling him, they continued to ask him back.  By the end of the year Belman knew he had much more than just a few minutes for a student film.

“Kris came to me at the end of the season and said he believed this project could be turned into a feature-length documentary,” Joyce said. “At first, those interested just wanted to have footage of LeBron, but Kris wouldn’t compromise.  This was the story of five friends and that’s exactly what you see on the screen.”

“More Than A Game,” Joyce said, is more than just the story of a team—the film has a message for anyone who has a dream. Joyce said he cautions players to not get so caught up in a dream that they forego everything else. He warns that basketball is a vehicle to be used, not to be used by.

“In any city you can find guys that basketball used up,” he said. “They might have gone to college and played for four years and never went to class. But they never attained anything; nothing from their efforts came to fruition.  For me it was important that these guys understand what basketball really is.  It’s a vehicle to understand life and with it you learn discipline, overcoming adversity, teamwork, sharing, thankfulness, unity.  These guys used basketball to learn and grow.”

 For More Information on "More Than A Game," visit the web site: www.morethanagamemovie.com