Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

DVD

Upcoming Release Calendar
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Recent DVD/Video Releases

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Finishing the Game

EMAILPRINTIFC Films

Finishing the Game reviews
46
6.2 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 10 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy

Written by: Josh Diamond
Justin Lin

Directed by: Justin Lin

Release Date:
Theatrical: October 5, 2007
DVD: May 20, 2008

Running Time: 88 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Roger Fan, Sung Kang, James Franco, McCaleb Burnett, Jim Parrack, Dustin Nguyen, Cassidy Freeman, and M.C. Hammer

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)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75

San Francisco Chronicle David Wiegand

When you finally stop laughing, there is something to think about.

Read Full Review >
70

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

There’s nothing new in the movie’s sociocultural insights, especially for those of us already interested in how identity is shaped by pop culture, but 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.

Read Full Review >
63

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

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.

Read Full Review >
60

The Hollywood Reporter Justin Lowe

The ensemble cast members play well off one another, particularly Fan as the self-absorbed Bruce Lee wannabe and Lynn in the role of the monumentally ignorant casting director.

Read Full Review >
50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

Finishing The Game doesn't get anywhere that "Hollywood Shuffle" didn't go to first, even if it has its own set of specific complaints about how show business treats Asians.

Read Full Review >
50

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A genially scattershot mockumentary.

Read Full Review >
40

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

A faux documentary grounded in ethnicity and mired in absurdity, Finishing the Game is a terrific idea still waiting to be fashioned into a real movie.

Read Full Review >
40

Los Angeles Times Staff (Not credited)

Only intermittently funny at best, but mostly full of dead air, the film is a let-down on both fronts.

Read Full Review >
40

Village Voice Nick Pinkerton

By setting the film in a deliberately distanced '70s, writer-director Justin Lin gets the benefit of looking-back-in-superiority.

Read Full Review >
25

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The film completely misses what should have been its real target -- the filming of Game of Death, a martial-arts campfest worthy of Edward D. Wood Jr.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 6.2 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use