REZ BALL

(Check out Chris Reed’s Rez Ball, movie review. It drops on Netflix Friday, September 27 on Netflix. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)

Underdog sports movies are nothing new. From Rocky to Hoosiers to The Mighty Ducks to Million Dollar Baby to Creed and beyond, they capture the imagination of viewers who enjoy watching people overcome obstacles both internal (personal demons) and external (opponents). Now, in Rez Ball, director and co-scenarist Sydney Freeland (Deidra & Laney Rob a Train)—loosely adapting the writings of journalist Michael Powell—gives us one such story set in the Navajo Nation, where high-school basketball is a very big deal.

Jessica Matten (AMC’s Dark Winds) stars as Heather Hobbs, coach of the Chuska Warriors, a team located on a New Mexico reservation. To note: the Chuska Mountains are real (and used to gorgeous effect here), but the town name is made up for the sake of the movie. This season has a chance to be especially good for the team now that star player Nataanii Jackson (Kusem Goodwind) is finally back after a hiatus to mourn his mother and sister, killed in a car accident the year before.

Unfortunately, things take a turn for the even more tragic when Nataanii commits suicide, unable to bear the pain of his family’s loss. Left behind when Nataanii kills himself is his father, Ronald (Ryan Begay, Fancy Dance), and best friend, Jimmy Holiday (Kauchani Bratt), also a b-ball player. With the whole town grieving, Jimmy foremost among them, will the team be able to recover and bring some pride and positive self-image back to Chuska by winning the state championship? It doesn’t seem so.

But that’s where you would be wrong, for as all such narratives go, after a prolonged trip to the bottom, the Warriors begin to turn things around. Heather, whose job is on the line (she’s looking for a new one, anyway), hires her old high-school coach to come back and assist, and little by little the team figures out a way forward, mostly by engaging with the game their way. It’s “rez ball” time.

This wouldn’t be a proper sports movie without a worthy villain, and we get one in the form of a cocky, racist team captain of the far wealthier Santa Fe Catholic school. He’s hardly the focus of the story, but exists out there, after an initial appearance, waiting to return at the end. If you doubt the outcome, then you just haven’t seen enough of these kinds of films.

If the above seems a bit glib, make no mistake: there is a lot to recommend in Rez Ball. It skillfully uses its genre tropes as a way into a portrait of life on the reservation and the challenges that the Navajo face in our 21^st century. Depression and addiction take their toll, fueled by the specter of ongoing denigration. Victories large and small mean a lot, which adds gravitas to the drama.

The performances and cinematography are also quite strong. If the script itself—co-written by Sterlin Harjo (FX’s Reservation Dogs)—sometimes traffics a little too much in the comfort of familiar structure, all that surrounds it feels fresh. For every missed free throw, there’s a winning three-pointer to make up for it. With that kind of formula, success is guaranteed.

– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)

Netflix; Sydney Freeland; Rez Ball

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