Quick Movie Review: Finishing The Game (2007)

I don't have a ton to say about Finishing the Game, so I decided to implement a new category called Quick Movie Review. The movie's a fake documentary about completing Game of Death after Bruce Lee died. I accidentally rented Game of Death a few years back, not realizing it was cobbled together with a few minutes of actual Bruce Lee footage and a bunch of other nonsense with lookalikes. It's really a bad movie that, from what I've read since, was just a crazy cash grab. Finishing the Game takes that idea and runs with it as we see a director and casting agent going through a bunch of people trying to find Bruce's replacement, mostly from unknowns and guys riding Bruce's coattails. There are a lot of funny bits to the movie as it focuses in on a few select people. There's even a brief, but hilarious plot point centering around a TV show starring James Franco.

My only "problem" with the movie is that I don't know if it's based on any kind of fact. I compared the actual Game of Death director to the guy from Finishing and they don't match up and I'll be honest, I'm too lazy to look everyone up, so maybe I'll never know. There's also no trivia on IMDb and the Wiki page isn't all that informative. I'm guessing it's all made up, which is kind of disappointing because it would be a lot funnier if this was based on more fact than "someone tried to complete a Bruce Lee movie after he died." There's plenty else going on like the egos and lack thereof of the guys auditioning to fill Bruce's shoes and a couple love stories, plus an inside look (maybe?) at what casting a movie was like. Plus it's short, which is a plus.

All in all, I'd recommend this for anyone interested in Bruce Lee, mockumentaries or the 70s, especially if you don't get too tied up in the reality of the comedy like I do.