Finishing the Game (2007)

35% of critics liked it
(34 reviews)
46% of users liked it
(2,641 ratings)

Better Luck Tomorrow and Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift director Justin Lin takes a comic look at a longstanding bit of cinema mythology with this mockumentary exploring the making of Bruce Lee's unfinished final film, Game of Death. When martial arts star Lee died in 1973 after having shot… More Better Luck Tomorrow and Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift director Justin Lin takes a comic look at a longstanding bit of cinema mythology with this mockumentary exploring the making of Bruce Lee's unfinished final film, Game of Death. When martial arts star Lee died in 1973 after having shot roughly 20 minutes of the full-length feature, director Robert Clouse vowed to complete the film using a Bruce Lee look-alike. Though the film was eventually released into theaters in 1978, fans continue to debate just how much involvement Lee had in the making of the film nearly three decades after the fact. Perhaps viewers will never know for certain just how much of Lee they are seeing in the final product, but in this knowing satire, director Lin offers a hilarious look at how things might have gone down while simultaneously skewering mainstream cinema for its stereotypical treatment of Asian-American actors. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 28 min.
Directed By: Justin Lin
Written By: Josh Diamond, Justin Lin
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 21, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Jun 24, 2008
Studio: IFC First Take

Critic Reviews

, Los Angeles Times
Intermittently funny at best, but mostly full of dead air.
David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle
A very funny, equal-opportunity broadside that targets Asian stereotyping, and not just by non-Asians.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
A genially scattershot mockumentary.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
A faux documentary grounded in ethnicity and mired in absurdity, Finishing the Game is a terrific idea still waiting to be fashioned into a real movie.
Gene Seymour, Newsday
Ragged, spotty but shrewdly conceived.
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
The film completely misses what should have been its real target -- the filming of Game of Death, a martial-arts campfest worthy of Edward D. Wood Jr.
Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com
You can easily tell how great a time everyone is having, and it's infectious.
Mark Rahner, Seattle Times
This tedious mockumentary isn't even as entertaining as one of Ed Wood's actual films, and once-promising director Justin Lin has some karma to square for fumbling such a sure thing.
Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
What exactly he's trying to say about Bruce Lee's fame and impact or the banal reality of genre moviemaking is unclear at best.
Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune
The pace is flat, the celebrity cameos go nowhere, and the smugness of Lin's observations of Asian-Americans and Hollywood smothers the comedy.
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Misses more comic targets than it hits.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
There's about five minutes of funny in Finishing the Game, which leaves 83 minutes of "Oh, that same joke again, huh?"
Beth Accomando, KPBS.org
Finishing the Game serves up a kick-ass comedy about a dead martial arts star, starving actors and the Hollywood system.
Ernest Hardy, L.A. Weekly
The breezy tone and obvious fun being had by the cast make Finishing the Game a slight, low-key cool cinematic essay on identity politics.
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
[T]here's little intriguing or surprising...
Andy Klein, Los Angeles CityBeat
... too thin to sustain itself, even at a modest 83 minutes.
Jeff Wong, Film Threat
The premise was so golden and in front of our noses for so long, it's amazing that is has taken this long for someone to do it. I'm still upset that it wasn't me.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
It's a wasted idea.
Todd Gilchrist, IGN Movies
The main reason that I didn't like Justin Lin's new film Finishing the Game is because I wasn't sure at any time what he was trying to make...
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
Besmirching Bruce Lee's name like this should be a punishable offense.

Read all 24 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Justin Y

At first glance the plot sounds interesting, but at the same time, may be a bit misleading. One may come to expect a serious documentary about replacing Bruce Lee for finishing the Game of Death. Instead the viewer is given a full on mockumentary.What is… More
At first glance the plot sounds interesting, but at the same time, may be a bit misleading. One may come to expect a serious documentary about replacing Bruce Lee for finishing the Game of Death. Instead the viewer is given a full on mockumentary.What is a mockumentary? Basically, it is a comedic documentary and Justin Lin provides a fairly successful one with this film.The style of this film plays out like it is done from the 70's, which is when the original Game of Death is from. The sound effects, the settings, the camerawork, and the costumes all contribute to the 70's look and feel. This film is only 85 minutes long and the first 15 of it is basically character introductions. The rest of the film follows these characters throughout the entire audition process. Just think of the early episodes in a season of American Idol.The comedy is fairly consistent, although it does get a little tiresome in the latter parts of the film. The characters are hilarious and so are their lines of dialogue. The situations that the characters are put in set up humorous sequences, which a few of them also intertwine.The acting is pretty good. There are a surprisingly number of noticeable faces playing small roles, like M.C. Hammer, James Franco, and Ron Jeremy. Yet, somehow the style of the film makes everybody seem like non-famous celebrities. This is actually a good thing.This is not or nowhere near a Bruce Lee martial arts film, but fans of Bruce Lee films, or mockumentaries, may want to check this one out.
William G

A spastic satire, as producers struggle to replace Bruce Lee.
Remi L

OMG this movie is a trip! Love how it comically, but truthfully portrays the disappointment and racism actors of color face in Hollywood. Roger Fan was spot on as a pretentious, egotistical celebrity, Sung Kang played the innocent, wide-eyed actor from the South, and Brian Tee was… More
OMG this movie is a trip! Love how it comically, but truthfully portrays the disappointment and racism actors of color face in Hollywood. Roger Fan was spot on as a pretentious, egotistical celebrity, Sung Kang played the innocent, wide-eyed actor from the South, and Brian Tee was almost unrecognizable as an emotionally and physically damaged Vietnam war vet!