‘Rez Ball’ Film Review: Grief Becomes Hope

To make a successful sports film, a screenplay must create characters who endear themselves to the audience. In a cinema landscape littered with films of this ilk, viewers deserve something more than yet another story about a ragtag bunch of misfits defying the odds. As every film of this type ends with “the big game”, the emotion must come from our hearts and not just the excitement of who wins or loses. Inspired by the book Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation by Michael Powell, Sydney Freeland’s Rez Ball understands the fine balance between the formulaic beats of the sports movie genre and the innate power of realistic human drama.

To refer to this picture as merely a “basketball movie” would be doing it a serious disservice. Written by Sterlin Harjo (who created the tremendously moving FX series Reservation Dogs) and director Freeland, the screenplay incorporates the beauty of the Native American culture while dealing with the realities of life on the reservation; an existence plagued by alcoholism, broken families, suicide, and the pain born of over 600 years of oppression that continues to this day. Made in collaboration with the Navajo Nation Government a perfect symmetry in casting and story, Freeland and Harjo have created a film that tells its powerful true tale with respect and dedication to the Navajo nation and to all Native American and First Nations people.

Set in Chuska, New Mexico, Jessica Matten (AMC’S Dark Winds) is excellent as Heather Hobbs, a former WNBA player who coaches the local high school basketball team, the Chuska Warriors. Her team needs work, but her star players, best friends Nataanii (Kusem Goodwind) and Jimmy (Kauchani Bratt) have skills and exist as a beacon of hope for the teammates and the school. Coach Hobbs is stern but fair as she demands the best from all her boys, telling them,“We run fast! We shoot fast! We don’t ever stop!”

The team loses their best player and, most important, their brother, after Nataanii commits suicide. The Warriors find themselves overcome with grief, as one of their own has fallen prey to the pitfalls of life on the reservation at such a young age. It is up to Coach Hobbs and Jimmy (now the team captain) to fight their way through their grief and learn what it means to be brothers on and off the court.

Newcomer Kuachani Bratt has real-life high school basketball skills that are on display in the exciting basketball scenes, but it is his complex and intensely moving portrayal of Jimmy that drives the emotions of the film. This is the young actor’s debut and his work is incredibly moving. A star in the making, Bratt’s performance is one of passion and truth.

For a high school student, Jimmy’s pressure seems unbearable. Keeping his grades up and maintaining a part-time job are more difficult as he balances it all with the pain of losing his friend. His mother, Gloria (Julia Jones), is unable to work because of too many DUIs. Still battling alcoholism and depression, she relies on her son to be the bread-winner; more unneeded pressure for the young man. Gloria’s failed past as a basketball hopeful (she played on the same team with Coach Hobbs when they were in high school) has caused her to become a bitter, jealous, and negative presence in Jimmy’s life. Instead of encouragement, she fills her son’s head with warnings about not setting his hopes too high. “No matter how hard we try, we always find a way to lose. It’s in our blood.” Gloria’s proclamation is a heartbreaking symptom of the psychological subjugation that America continues to afflict on the Native American peoples.

It is in the shadows of a mother’s failures where the son will find his resolve. As Jimmy becomes a symbol of hope for a better future, Gloria will find herself inspired to find the wisdom to become the parent she always should have been.

Rez Ball’s best moments are found in the relationships between Jimmy, his coach, his boss/impending love interest Kirista (newcomer Zoey Reyes), and his teammates (all of whom are exceptional). Their connections are born of the honesty within the characters and give the film a beating heart. All of the actors (both professional and those making their debuts) do terrific work, with not a false moment to be found in any of their performances. Harjo and Freeland’s screenplay captures the growing pains of teenage life on the reservations and the inherent sadness of a young man and all who know him, having to overcome the tragedy of their community.

As for the basketball scenes, they are some of the most exciting in years. Each of these young actors knows how to play and their natural dexterity and expertise (along with Kira Kelly’s superb camerawork) make these moments sizzle. The intensity of the hoop sequences match the potency of the film’s drama.

As its true story traverses the complexities of life on a Navajo reservation, Freeland’s film becomes something passionately compelling. This is a universally inspirational cinematic experience about how one town became a phoenix that rose from the ashes of tragedy.

Rez Ball is a beautiful, moving, and encouraging motion picture.