Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee (2007)

Director:

Justin Lin

Writers:

Josh Diamond (written by) &
Justin Lin (written by)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Who will be

Plot:

Bruce Lee's shocking death left legions of stunned fans and a legacy of 12 minutes from his unfinished Game Of Death. Undeterred, studio executives launched a search for his replacement chronicled here through the eyes of five aspiring thespians who find out what the real game is. |

Plot Keywords:

Bruce Lee | Kung Fu | Audition | 1970s | Typecast

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Josh Diamond	...	Interviewer
Sam Bottoms	...	Martey Kurtainbaum
Jake Sandvig	...	Ronney Kurtainbaum
Roger Fan	...	Breeze Loo
Nathan Jung	...	Bob
Joseph McQueen	...	Leroy / Earl (as Joe McQueen)
Aiko Tanaka	...	Nunchuck Girl
Natalie Sesko	...	Ribbon Girl
Sung Kang	...	Cole Kim
Monique Gabriela Curnen	...	Saraghina Rivas
Daphne Rosen	...	Porn Star
Celestia Star	...	Porn Star (as Celestia Starr)
Carmel Moore	...	Porn Star (as Carmel)
Zoe Matthews	...	Porn Star
Scott Hobson	...	Porn Star

Also Known As:

Finishing the Game (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:R21 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Atwater Village Studios - 3018 Carmel Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Barnstorm Pictures

Quotes:

[first lines]
Interviewer: Mr. Kurtainbaum, why did you decide to continue production on The Game of Death?

Movie Connections:

References Game of Death (1978)

Soundtrack:

Walking Cool in Slow Motion

Way weaker than what I expected

Just watched this movie in a company of friends and got extremely disappointed with it. I first saw a trailer a couple of months ago and though it was a great premise - yes, a little goofy and maybe too post-modern for it's own good, but at least it seemed that it was a fun thing to watch.

The premise of the film is simple and is shown to you on the first minute of the movie - Bruce Lee dies while filming "Game of Death", he leaves behind 12 minutes of footage that a studio producer is willing to exploit. They start a nation-wide search for a double, so that they can film "the rest" of the movie. And so enter the bunch of hopefuls wishing to take the place of the master or just get a first acting job.

The jokes are tongue-in-cheek, but the problem with them is that they are simply not funny. The whole movie is filmed in a pseudo-documentary style that has become a most overused technique in the last 10 years of independent movies. The situations and plot lines are sometimes cute, but mostly predictable and definitely not intelligent enough. The story actually looks like a long episode of "Office" (the US version), and you have a twitch to start channel surfing instead.

I'm not sure how many Bruce Lee fans are still out there, but this film has very little to do with his work and just takes the premise and runs with it - unfortunately the end result is bland and devoid of any creative spark.