“The higher you go, the greater the fall,” Gloria Holiday (Julia Jones) tells her son Jimmy (Kauchani Bratt) early in Rez Ball. When Gloria was her son’s age, she was a basketball star on the Navajo Reservation team in Chuska, New Mexico, but life got in the way of her greater ambitions. Now that her son is also the star of the Chuska High School Warriors, she also wants to temper his expectations: “We always find a way to lose. It’s in our blood.”
Rez Ball, co-written and directed by Sydney Freeland (Drunktown’s Finest, Echo), co-written by Sterlin Harjo (co-creator of Reservation Dogs), and based on the nonfiction novel Canyon Dreams by Michael Powell, is a sports film that hits the same notes we’ve come to expect from the genre, yet it’s also a movie that, for better or worse, isn’t all that interested in being a sports film. Rather, Freeland and Harjo prioritize the beauty and struggle that comes with living on a reservation and the community that naturally grows out of that, but also the inescapable nature of that type of community. Even though Rez Ball is going through the process of a fairly standard sports film, it’s the details in the fringes that make it such a compelling story.
What Is 'Rez Ball' About?
The Chuska Warriors seem well on their way to the state championships with their star player Nataanii Jackson (Kusem Goodwind) leading the way. While celebrating their first win of the season, Nataanii and his teammate Jimmy sit and talk as they look over the reservation, and Nataanii refers to trying to “escape” some way. Even at the height of his success and popularity, Nataanii has a weight on his back he can’t avoid. At their game the next day, Nataanii is nowhere to be found, and in the locker rooms after their loss, the team learns that their star player has taken his own life.
Jimmy is hit particularly hard by the loss of his friend, which isn’t made easier by his troubles at home, where his mother still struggles with alcoholism and asks him to take shifts at a local burger place to help with money. Yet Jimmy’s coach, Heather (Jessica Matten), sees something in Jimmy as a potential leader and makes him the team captain after the loss of Nataanii. Meanwhile, Heather is also trying to escape her position as coach, but the end of her long-distance relationship and her inability to get hired by any other team keeps her stuck in her current location. Together, Jimmy, Heather, and the rest of the Chuska Warriors try to succeed without their star by embracing who they are and what makes them unique among all the other teams competing to go to the state championship.
'Rez Ball' Isn't Particularly Interested in Being a Sports Film
As a sports film, Rez Ball is going through the beats that have become fairly standard for the genre. Of course, without Nataanii to hold this team together, they start to fracture and fail, but naturally, after a team-building exercise and Jimmy taking more of a leadership approach, they begin to succeed once more. Freeland does a nice job with the basketball scenes, slowing down the action occasionally to heighten the excitement of the game. Yet it’s very clear that that’s not where the film’s interest lies, and even when we get to more important match-ups later in the season, Rez Ball speeds through them, almost as if it's stating the games themselves aren’t as important as what their wins and losses mean for the group. The ups and downs are what you’d expect, and if you’re coming to Rez Ball for the experience of watching a sports film, you’re likely going to be disappointed.
Freeland and Harjo’s script doesn’t avoid the darkness and depression that can hit hard for the people living on a reservation. Beyond Nataanii, Gloria has difficulty with the weight of pressure from herself and her community, whereas Coach Heather has to reckon with calls for her to get fired when the team is on a losing streak. But we mostly see this darkness in Jimmy, who is at a crossroads in life with the loss of his friend and is tasked with leading his team in the wake of that. Rez Ball is overwhelmed with grief throughout, which can sometimes be a bit too much, but it works to bring a new light to this type of story.
'Rez Ball' Is Best When Its Character Embrace Who They Are
What makes Rez Ball such an interesting example of a sports film is its exploration of embracing who you are and using what makes you unique to succeed. Again, this is primarily shown through Jimmy, who had the potential to leave the reservation when he was working in conjunction with Nataanii, but now, it seems as though he’ll be stuck here like his mother. While Nataanii might have seen the reservation as a prison, Jimmy discovers the possibilities that his home still offers. He gets closer to his coworker Krista (Zoey Reyes) at the burger shop, and she teaches him how to speak Navajo, which the team can use to call plays during the game that their competitors won’t understand. At one point, Jimmy is bummed out by working at the restaurant, but Krista shows Jimmy the positives, stating that while she doesn’t want to be here forever, she also gets to see everyone in the town and create friendships that she wouldn’t have without this job. Even though one might feel trapped by their situation, there’s always a silver lining, and things that might seem like weaknesses are actually strengths.
Rez Ball seemingly knows that its true story is a bit by the numbers, and while it certainly has the highs of your standard sports film, it’s in the lows where Freeland’s movie truly finds itself. Through its exploration of Navajo culture and life on the reservation, as well as the troubles and beauty of that community, Rez Ball smartly explores dark topics in a way that doesn’t suffocate the underdog story within.
Rez Ball is now available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
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