Finishing the Game
| Finishing the Game | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Justin Lin |
| Produced by |
Julie Asato Salvador Gatdula Justin Lin |
| Written by | Josh Diamond |
| Starring | McCaleb Burnett, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Roger Fan, Sung Kang, Mousa Kraish, Meredith Scott Lynn, and Dustin Nguyen (appearance/work by James Franco, MC Hammer, Ron Jeremy, and George Takei) |
| Music by | Brian Tyler |
| Cinematography | Tom Clancey |
| Edited by | Greg Louie |
| Distributed by | IFC Films |
Release date | 2007 |
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Finishing the Game is a low-budget 2007 mockumentary in the vein of This is Spinal Tap (1984),[1] focusing on Bruce Lee's final movie Game of Death (1972), which was left unfinished at the time of his death.[2][3] Shot in 18 days, Finishing the Game comedically satirizes the 1972 production—which used body doubles and clips from other Lee movies[2]—and addresses racial stereotypes on the Asian community. The film was directed by Justin Lin, the director of the films Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,[2] and Star Trek Beyond.[1]
Its world premiere took place at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where it was an Official Selection. It was also selected as the opening night film at the 25th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival,[4] the 23rd Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (the VC FilmFest) in Los Angeles, the 30th Asian American International Film Festival in New York, the DisOrient Film Festival of Oregon, the Asian Film Festival of Dallas, the 2007 DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, and the 11th Annual Vancouver Asian Film Festival.
Reviews of the film by critics and viewers were mixed to negative, e.g. 31-35% of critics approving, and 48% of viewers approving, as of March 2017 at Rotten Tomatoes.[5]
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Finishing the Game stars McCaleb Burnett, Monique Gabriela Curnen, Roger Fan, Sung Kang, Mousa Kraish, Meredith Scott Lynn, and Dustin Nguyen,[6][2][1] with appearances by James Franco, MC Hammer, Ron Jeremy, and voice- and other work by George Takei.[1]
- McCaleb Burnett as Tarrick Tyler.[6][1]
- Monique Gabriela Curnen[6][1] as Saraghina Rivas.
- Roger Fan as Breeze Loo.[2][6][1]
- Sung Kang as Colgate "Cole" Kim.[2][6][1]
- Mousa Kraish as Raja.[6]
- Meredith Scott Lynn as Eloise.[6]
- Dustin Nguyen as Troy Poon.[6][1]
- James Franco[1] as Dean Silo.
- MC Hammer[6][1] as Roy Thunder.
- Ron Jeremy[6][1] as Peter Dowd.
- Brian Tee and Leonardo Nam, in "humorous bit turns."[6]
- George Takei.[1]
- SuChin Pak as Connie Popavich-Mosimoto.
- Bella Thorne as Sue.
- Sam Bottoms as Martey Kurtainbaum.
- Jake Sandvig as Ronney Kurtainbaum.
- Michael Shamus Wiles as Officer Williams.
- Nathan Jung as Bob.
- Cassidy Freeman as Shirley.
- Joseph McQueen as Leroy/Earl.
- David Collard as Victor.
- Parry Shen.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Schindler, Mike & Mills, John (March 25, 2016). "Commentary—Trek Stars 177, True Detective: Tokyo Drift (Lin, Part 4: Finishing the Game)". Trek.fm. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ito, Robert (August 5, 2006). "50 Guys, All Trying to Look Like Bruce Lee". The New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
- ↑ Lee died having shot only 40 minutes of the fight scenes, and so the film was completed to include just 12 minutes of Lee's fighting, using Bruce Lee body doubles, and "clips snatched from previous films, even clips from Lee’s own Hong Kong funeral." Robert Ito of The New York Times describes the finished product, "which includes about 12 minutes of Lee’s original fight scenes" as "grotesque." See Ito, "50 Guys...", op. cit.
- ↑ Goto, Taro & SFIAAFF Staff (24 February 2007). "Finishing the Game [25th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), March 15-25 2007—Films & Events, Screening, Thu 3/15]". AsianAmericanFilmFestival.org. Archived from the original on February 24, 2007. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ↑ RT Staff (March 2, 2017). "Finishing the Game". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Stevenson, Elena (August 5, 2008). "DVD review: Finishing The Game". Archived from the original on August 16, 2008. Retrieved March 2, 2017.