Spirit of the Game

Spirit of the Game is a 2016 biographical film written and directed by Darran Scott aka Darran Page with cinematography by Brian J. Breheny (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert). The film is based on the true story of the Mormon Yankees, an American basketball team which played in exhibition games before the 1956 Summer Olympics. The film stars, Aaron Jakubenko, Kevin Sorbo, Wade Briggs, Grant Piro and Anna McGahan.

Plot
It’s 1956 and 20 year old Delyle Condie travels to Melbourne, Australia, on a Mission for his Church in an attempt to recover from a broken heart. He leaves behind a promising basketball career and finds himself in a city gripped with Olympic fever. Delyle struggles to maintain his spirits when faced with the indifference of the locals, but when an opportunity to help train Australia’s first Olympic basketball team arises, Delyle sees his chance to connect. His passion leads to the formation of the Mormon Yankees basketball team, and in the run up to the Games, fierce competition with the French leads to a bloody rematch, through which Delyle and his Yankees are able to prove their faith - and their mettle - to the world.

Cast

 * Aaron Jakubenko as DeLyle Condie
 * Kevin Sorbo as Parley Condie
 * Wade Briggs as Don Hull
 * Grant Piro as Ken Watson
 * Anna McGahan as Elspeth
 * Heidi Arena as Mary Condie
 * Mark Mitchell as President Bingham
 * Alex Cooke as Elder Garn
 * Brenton Cosier as Elder Kimball
 * Andrew Hearle as Elder Frodsham
 * Rudi Baker as Stan Page
 * Cameron Caulfield as Brett
 * Emilie Cocquerel as Emily
 * Hanna MacDonald as herself

Reception
The Deseret News criticised the "stiff acting" in the movie, but highlighted Piro's performance and described the story as "compelling". The Salt Lake Tribune thought the film was full of "ponderous piety" but praised Sorbo for adding some gravitas to his role. The film was nominated for best dramatic cinema in the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.