Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Good concept, poorly executed.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie was so real, that it made me cry... It's all about knowing what's right & wrong. I give it 5 plus stars! It was so good that I watched it twice! !! The main character's grandma reminded me a lot of the conversations I have had with my 3 sons, and that's why I cried, it hit home run with me. THANK YOU GOD, for another awesome grassroots movie with substance, heart, and soul. No big budget here, but good acting and resources to quality scenes made you forget its grassroots. Fantastic beginning, middle, and end. And none of them predictable. And to top it off, the actor who played "Candyman," Tony Todd, played two very symbolic and memorable roles!

One of the major keys to a great film, is a solid story directed by an able hand, since if the plot is delivered adequately the viewer is almost able to visualize internally without a screen. Fortunately in the case of the Rel Dowdell directed film, "Changing the Game," the viewer is granted the benefit of a well crafted screenplay (Rel Dowdell & Arron R. Astillero), delivered by an able cast, captured with entrancingly and captivating visuals, which echo back to such early independent classic black films as Larry Cohen's "Black Caesar" and Ivan Dixon's "The Spook Who Sat By the Door." "Right now I'm on my way to your trough to eat your breakfast, since you don't have sense enough to eat it yourself." Templeton Set in the colorful yet gritty North Philadelphia backdrop, Changing the Game begins with a young Darrell Barnes (Jakobi Alvin), adeptly reading the above quote from E.B. White's children's classic "Charlotte's Web" in front of his mildly attentive elementary class, while doting instructor Mrs. Davis (Suzanne Douglas) looks on admiringly. It is Mrs. Davis interest in Darrell's background, added with her compliment heavy motivation, which gives the sense that she was integral in shaping Darrell's early academic aspirations. Forward to the drug infused, crime ridden mid 1980s, Darrell (Sean Riggs) is now an accomplished and intelligent high school senior with intentions of attending college for business. It is at these formative beginnings, where Barnes's life and death circumstances and personality shaping people, such as his shrewdly tactical, highly ambitious, long time friend and street hustler Dre (Dennis L.A. White) as well as his morally influential and religiously devout guardian Grandma Barnes (legendary Irma P Hall), begin to give the viewer a more concise image of the potentially multi dimensional character Darrell may truly be.I do not wish to give many of the plot details due to the fact that Changing the Game is a film that must be watched carefully in order to understand the nuances and depth of Darrell's and his surrounding character's roles in the story-line. I will only share that this is a not the typical cliché shoot em up, hood tragedy flick. Not only does it subtly touch upon the struggles and ills of a desperate impoverished ethnic community, it also ventures off into the social and political dynamic of higher learning institutions, the typically white male dominated American corporate boardroom and the more ethnically and culturally diverse international business environment. There is an interweaving of classical literature such as Machiavelli's "The Prince," which only embellish and compliment an already intriguing story about a not so common man, facing all too familiar circumstances with an intelligently creative and militarily calculated ambition. Those aforementioned qualities alone have made this a film that must be watched more than once to gain full appreciation of how dynamic Darrell Barnes' character is. 8/10

I saw this movie in New Jersey along with many people from my church and would like to encourage everyone to go see it. Now, I am a person who usually falls asleep in movies in a heartbeat (keeping it real), but this movie was great enough to hold my attention the entire time. Love the storyline. Love the realness. Love the ending. When I told my 17 years old son about it, he went to see it. I was thrilled when he called to say, "Mom, it was AWESOME!" If you asked for one word to describe it, I would have to say, like my son, AWESOME. It is a movie that everyone should see (at least twice). It is a movie for all mature audiences. Way to go writer/director and cast!

This film was well written, well casted, and brilliantly directed!!! The movie is not what you typically expect and requires close attention due to the mature and thoughtful storyline. There are some amazing twists and turns and the end kept the audience sitting in its seats during the movie credits trying to absorb what just occurred. I highly recommend everyone check out this movie and see why it personifies it's title...Changing the Game. The Director/ Writer obviously took his personal experiences of growing up in Philladelphia and being an educated black man trying to succeed in a field that has very few people of color. It's classic adoption of the survival skills learned from our individual environments that's shape us coupled with those presented by historic figures and how to apply those in the world of business is the brilliance behind this film.Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!!!