You can easily tell how great a time everyone is having, and it's infectious.
Finishing the Game (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:34
Fresh:12
Rotten:22
Average Rating:4.8/10
Consensus: Though Justin Lin's premise is precocious enough, the sight gags and comic timing are tired in this mockumentary about Asian typecasting in the 1970s.
Runtime: 88 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis:
The unexpected death of Bruce Lee, a world-wide phenomenon and established movie star, came at the zenith of his popularity. Having already shot scenes for his upcoming movie GAME OF DEATH, studio...
The unexpected death of Bruce Lee, a world-wide phenomenon and established movie star, came at the zenith of his popularity. Having already shot scenes for his upcoming movie GAME OF DEATH, studio heads decided to complete the film by launching a search for his replacement attracting hopefuls from all around the world. FINISHING THE GAME is an uproarious, poignant, unpredictable and action-packed re-imagining of that casting process for Lee's replacement and examines the leaps and bounds Asians have taken in media representation - or have they?
--© IFC Films
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Starring: Roger Fan, Sung Kang, Meredith Scott Lynn, McCaleb Burnett
Starring: Roger Fan, Sung Kang, Meredith Scott Lynn, McCaleb Burnett, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Mousa Kraish, Dustin Nguyen
Director: Justin Lin
Director: Justin Lin
Screenwriter: Josh Diamond, Justin Lin
Producer: Julie Asato, Salvador Gatdula, Justin Lin
Composer: Brian Tyler
Studio: IFC Films
Reviews for Finishing the Game
This tedious mockumentary isn't even as entertaining as one of Ed Wood's actual films, and once-promising director Justin Lin has some karma to square for fumbling such a sure thing.
What exactly he's trying to say about Bruce Lee's fame and impact or the banal reality of genre moviemaking is unclear at best.
The pace is flat, the celebrity cameos go nowhere, and the smugness of Lin's observations of Asian-Americans and Hollywood smothers the comedy.
There's about five minutes of funny in Finishing the Game, which leaves 83 minutes of "Oh, that same joke again, huh?"
Finishing the Game serves up a kick-ass comedy about a dead martial arts star, starving actors and the Hollywood system.
The breezy tone and obvious fun being had by the cast make Finishing the Game a slight, low-key cool cinematic essay on identity politics.
A very funny, equal-opportunity broadside that targets Asian stereotyping, and not just by non-Asians.
The premise was so golden and in front of our noses for so long, it’s amazing that is has taken this long for someone to do it. I’m still upset that it wasn’t me.
The main reason that I didn't like Justin Lin's new film Finishing the Game is because I wasn't sure at any time what he was trying to make...
Besmirching Bruce Lee's name like this should be a punishable offense.
What little potential there is ends up squandered within nanoseconds; as both a parody and a polemic, the film is finished before it’s barely begun.
It feels as though everyone involved was having a rollicking good time, and while the film itself is wildly uneven, Lin and company get in a few pointed jabs at Hollywood fatuousness and self-delusion, cultural stereotypes and '70s fashions.
Call it a comic documentary, a true-life comedy, or a Hollywood satire, but however you karate chop this one, it's a kicky, clever, highly amusing romp.
Finishing The Game doesn't get anywhere that Hollywood Shuffle didn't go to first.
Latest News for Finishing the Game
October 06, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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