Edge of America (2004)
From acclaimed director, Chris Eyre, whom People Magazine calls "…the preeminent Native American filmmaker of his time" comes this touching and inspirational story about loyalty, friendship and courage. New man in town Kenny Williams (James McDaniel) has just accepted a position as an English professor at the Three Nations Reservation in Utah. Finding it hard to fit in with the tight-knit Native American community, he decides to take on the challenge of coaching the high school girls' basketball team.
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Waste of time
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
A very good sports related drama. Kenny Williams(James McDaniel), a black educator from Texas leaves a past behind and takes a position teaching English at Three Nations High School in a small Native American community in Utah. Williams not only has problems fitting into the close knit society...he faces obstacles accepting coaching the girl's basketball team. He struggles with turning around a losing team and preparing them to hold their own against a rivaling nearby all-white high school.Some interesting sub-plots and a strong cast featuring: Wes Studi, Tim Daly, Irene Bedard, Fraya Aspaas-Montoya, Eddie Spears, Trini King and most impressive Delanna Studi. Some very contrasting scenery filmed in Salt Lake City, Utah. One of my favorite scenes is when the black coach is called a 'white man'. This project had a very successful premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004.
Another viewer wrote: "Killer premise: Black male teacher is recruited suddenly to teach English at an Indian reservation high school and takes over as coach of the hapless girls basketball team." Actually, it wasn't an original premise at all, but a true story.Just enough details were changed by the producers to avoid having to pay for the rights to the life of coach Jerry Richardson and the young women of the Shiprock, New Mexico Lady Chieftains high school basketball team. An award-winning documentary ("Rocks With Wings") about Coach Richardson, the team, and their profound influence upon life on the Navajo Reservation had already played across the country and aired on PBS before Chris Eyre and Willy Holtzman attempted their awkward adaptation-- "Rocks With Wings" tells the same story, but with far greater insight and subtlety, as well as a few more plot twists. I would recommend that documentary over "Edge of America" to anyone interested in this story.
I saw this movie at Sundance. I am not a basketball fan, nor am I particularly interested in Native American affairs. But I LOVED this movie, and it seemed as if everyone else in the theater did too. It was by far the best film I saw at the festival this year. There are a few flaws you have to overlook - James McDaniels' character is remarkably insensitive to Indian culture, and says some things that no kind intelligent person would, though the character is supposed to be both kind and intelligent. But forget that - McDaniel still makes you believe he's real, and the girls who play the losers-turned-winners on his team are marvelous. For whatever issues of believability you may have, how can you knock a movie that makes people stand up and cheer? And gives us a conclusion that may not be the easy predictable one? The world needs more movies like this. Go see it. You won't be sorry!
Chris Eyre has done a wonderful job of presenting Indian life in America today. The reality of the reservation was presented in a wonderful way - not as victims or heros but as real people just trying to live their lives.I especially liked the fact that this movie avoided typical Pan Indian Images that plague so much of what is presented in the media about Native Americans and their culture.Bravo!