In the Game

"This doesn't feel like a sports movie so much as a lament for America's beleaguered working class. The coach teaches the girls valuable lessons about hard work and self-discipline, and the players Finitzo follows grow as individuals, but once they graduate, they find it nearly impossible to stay above the poverty line, let alone pay for college. This inspires warm admiration for the subjects while stirring up rousing anger at our city's social inequality—Kartemquin at its best."

"A poignant and often powerful study of hope and ambition in overcoming severe social disadvantages... loaded with moments of heartbreak and wonder... a deeply empowering work."

"Moving in a variety of ways. It’s the antithesis of sugarcoated Hollywood feel-good stories, yet it will make you feel really happy and fulfilled. It doesn’t shrink from exposing the most bitter of truths about the injustice in our public school system, yet it reveals the core solidarity that can exist in those schools. Finally, it puts paid to any notions stirred up by our recent Presidential-race bombast that Latino-Americans are anything but hard-working, dedicated, loving and loyal societal and family members of inestimable worth."

"The documentary is a testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. Alicia, Elizabeth, and Maria each encounter numerous challenges and continue to find happiness in their lives. Finitzo smartly avoids over-explaining and over-analyzing the young women’s situations. In doing so, the director acknowledges the intelligence of the viewer, and allows them to draw the connections between the complex social issues that hinder the young women’s educational journeys."

"This moving program follows three team members practicing (in hallways and the gym because there are no outdoor facilities); playing games against better-equipped teams; and juggling obligations at home, school and the workplace. Inspiring without being pedantic, this thought-provoking film from the producers of the award-winning Hoop Dreams (1994) will spark discussions on inequities in school funding and the role of high school sports."

"In The Game doesn’t position itself as a “statement film.” There are no statistics emblazoned on the screen. It is a study of one school athletic program and its players. And yet it feels more important than that. It feels empowering, even inspirational. You will lose some games. In life, you will play some games that you never had a chance of winning. But the important thing is that you keep playing."

"Warm and often heart-tugging... an intimate study in sisterhood and hope in the face of adversity."

"...possesses a rare grit and honesty in its portrayal of the poverty faced by many of the subjects."