This was a video store closeout, and a remarkable find. The best part first. Having had relatives and in-laws who lived there in the time, this looks and feels real. The horse drawn harvester, to start with. The blue sky and tufts of clouds, the golden hills and pines - not fake at all - it's the northern Palouse in early fall. The attitudes of the people are just what I'd expect. Suspicious of anything new or foreign - Spokane was the IWW headquarters just prior to this period, and dangerous radicals such as Joe Hill(strom) wandered all through the basin making trouble for the established citizenry. WWI had a huge effect on Northwest labor history, and the tension between loyalty and freethinking was strong. Yet there was also the great thirst for culture, and a pre-mass media naivete, in these places - a yearning for art perhaps inspired by living in the midst of great beauty. Finally, all those stark white houses, churches and schoolhouse sitting forlornly out in the wide open. The movie gets ALL of this right.

Sadly, there isn't much of a story to complement the pictures. The problem with small town life is that it was boring, and it's hard to find a believable story with a lot of drama that fits. Focused on the relationships only, this might have been something like A River Runs Through It or Napoleon Dynamite (both of which play against similar scenic backdrops). Focused on the sports story, perhaps Hoosiers. Focused on outsiders fitting in, perhaps Days of Heaven. But muddled all together, it comes out like a string of TV episodes, like Little House on the Prairie. Very melodramatic, with all the music swells and dramatic incidents that usually precede a commercial.

Oh my GOD this was a Fantastic FILM. It had me in Tears at the End of the FILM. He wanted to Play Basketball SO BAD. He finally got to Play he was SHORT. He was HATED because he was German. THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS BACK THEN. But he showed them all he was winning that Game. Oh ya he was WINNER BIG TIME. Then his LITTLE BROTHER was Keeping Score. He looked up seen his LITTLE BROTHER go into a EPILEPSY BRAIN SEZIOR. He Dropped that Ball and ran and saved him before he fell to the ground. I am 47 YEARS OLD and I was in TEARS. Like oh No that poor little guy just had a sezior. That sucks I have about 7 to 20 a week after my BRAIN SURGERY. But before that I had about 10 to 30 ever couple of days. Sometimes on BAD days I had about 17 in just 2 days. So that part really hit me hard. This was a Great FILM I Love how it meant way more then Basketball. It meant a lot about the WAR. And why it was important that the Kids PLAY. They must WIN this Game but VERY UPSET that they Lost this Game. But the Couch was Very Smart about them if they Loose oh well. If they Loose it will be OK so don't worry. A lot SMARTER MAN at the VERY End then you think. My favorite part is Always having the Class LISTEN to Opera Music. People HATED him for that and didn't understand why he did that. Well to be honest with Everyone in History we all NO WHY. Opera Music is all about. #1-FILM IT IS A MUST WATCH.

A tale of the early beginnings of basketball in the setting of World War I and anti-German prejudic eentertainingly put forth.