Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee

I just saw this up at Park City. i waited in line for two hours and i have to say it was worth it. The premise is incredibly strong and the film is filled with enough kooky characters to make Christopher Guest proud. It is a solid and smart film. I was laughing out loud consistently. the main thing i love about the film is that it deals with issues without hitting you in the face with it. ultimately it shows in an entertaining way that things haven't changed at all through time. the performances were all strong and the music rocked. the camera work was authentic and the colors just popped. overall, go see it when it comes out.

I am not a particular fan of the martial arts genre or a Bruce Lee idolizer, but I absolutely loved this movie. The fact that it is billed as a comedy and is actually funny, and this one is very funny, underscored for me its subtle ridicule of Hollywood, their formula films and the entire assembly-line style of film making. Hollywood seems to treat Comedy as the Miscellaneous category - if you can't categorize it as a drama, a documentary, suspense, horror, action or history, then it must be a comedy. This one is genuinely funny, instead of yet another billed "comedy" that's really just one more money-grubber's yawn fest.

This is also a wonderful but gentle poke at the entire 70's style of film and television, re-creating the tasteless idiocy of that decade's mainstream entertainment offerings, but in a manner that remains nostalgic, affectionate and respectful - like having an old hound dog that stinks just a bit and slobbers all over everyone but we still love him anyway.

If you enjoy the Christopher Guest parody movies (I don't; I respect the effort but it's just not easy to get a laugh out of me - yet this movie got plenty) I think you will find this well worth seeing. Even the nudity is so blatantly gratuitous it qualifies as parody.

If you're fed up with the standard crappy focus-group-oriented film-by-formula usually offered, you'll like this movie. If you want a good laugh, you'll like this movie. If you have a pulse and a sense of humor, you'll like this movie.

Just watched this movie in a company of friends and got extremely disappointed with it. I first saw a trailer a couple of months ago and though it was a great premise - yes, a little goofy and maybe too post-modern for it's own good, but at least it seemed that it was a fun thing to watch.

The premise of the film is simple and is shown to you on the first minute of the movie - Bruce Lee dies while filming "Game of Death", he leaves behind 12 minutes of footage that a studio producer is willing to exploit. They start a nation-wide search for a double, so that they can film "the rest" of the movie. And so enter the bunch of hopefuls wishing to take the place of the master or just get a first acting job.

The jokes are tongue-in-cheek, but the problem with them is that they are simply not funny. The whole movie is filmed in a pseudo-documentary style that has become a most overused technique in the last 10 years of independent movies. The situations and plot lines are sometimes cute, but mostly predictable and definitely not intelligent enough. The story actually looks like a long episode of "Office" (the US version), and you have a twitch to start channel surfing instead.

I'm not sure how many Bruce Lee fans are still out there, but this film has very little to do with his work and just takes the premise and runs with it - unfortunately the end result is bland and devoid of any creative spark.

Done in the style of a 1970s mockumentary, "Finishing the Game" is based on the premise that, when Bruce Lee died in 1973 at the age of 32, he left behind twelve minutes of footage for a movie entitled "The Game of Death." Determined to bring Lee's final dream to fruition, a group of dedicated filmmakers set out to find a replacement for the star in the hopes of finishing the project. "Finishing the Game" is a fictionalized account of that search (the actual movie was released in 1978).

Unfortunately, beyond its spot-on '70s fashions and hairstyles, oh-so-groovy soundtrack and overall air of genial good-naturedness, "Finishing the Game" offers little of quality for anyone craving a good behind-the-scenes movie parody. Lacking both polish and finesse, the movie represents a major comedown for director Justin Lee after his stunning triumph with "Better Luck Tomorrow" a few years back. The half-hearted Josh Diamond screenplay scarcely makes an effort at being funny, and the concept itself is simply too thin to be successfully stretched out over even a relatively meager 84-minute-long running time.

Barely flash-in-the-pan cameo appearances by the likes of James Franco, MC Hammer and Ron Jeremy do little to support an otherwise likable cast. And there isn't even any decent martial arts action to make the movie much fun for fans of the genre being satirized.

I was up at the 2007 Sundance film festival this year. After being turned away at the wait list line (twice), I finally got into a screening of Justin Lin's "FINISHING THE GAME". It was, at the very least, very well worth the freezing wait.

I was at Sundance in 2002 when "BETTER LUCK TOMORROW" made it's world premier. So I thought it was very cool that I was also there for the world premier of "FINISHING THE GAME". Though the two films are significantly different (BLT being a dark drama while FTG is an all out crazy comedy), they are both vintage Justin Lin. And Lin pulls out all the stops. As a film maker, Lin has really challenged and proved himself in most (if not all) mediums of film making and genres. From a powerful indie drama (BLT), to a studio sports film (Annapolis), to a 100 million dollar summer blockbuster (FF3 - Tokyo Drift), Justin Lin returns to his indie roots with the comedy, FINISHING THE GAME. This 70's comedy following Hollywood's retarded search for the next Bruce Lee (Lee died unexpectedly with only having shot the last 12 minutes of fight footage of his passion project, The Game Of Death) showcases Lin's abilities to direct comedy. FTG is just flat out Hilarious.

But more importantly, this film, I believe, will become known as a very Significant film. Much like Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing" or John Singleton's "Boyz In The Hood", Lin has crafted a film filled with social and political commentary but disguises it as a laugh out loud comedy (a very difficult thing to do well in film making). Lin navigates these waters with precision and poise so beautifully. The film takes a deep look at and takes stabs at Hollywood superficiality, racial/ethnic expectations in the 70's, and pain and denial of people's dreams, hopes, and fears. The ironic thing is that very little has changed in 35 years. We deal with the same exact issues as today, 2007. With this, Lin has crafted a Signficant film in cinema for all to experience and enjoy.

Of course, Lin is greatly helped by many of his players. Cinematography by Tom Clancy (not the writer) really brings that 70's documentary style to life. Candi Guterres set design just adds to the incredible 70's flavor of the film. Cast performances are exceptionally strong across the board. Roger Fan as the beyond delusional Breeze Loo expertly conveys the hidden pain of deluded passion. Sung Kang delivers a charming and atypical performance as the Southern dreamer trying to make it happen in Hollywood. And Meredith Lynn Scott hits the tone spot on as the self-indulgent casting director.

Distribution for the film were in "secret talks" during Sundance. Word is they will be releasing the film some time in October 2007. No official confirmation as of yet...