'Inside Game' falls off the melodramatic deep end - Joanna's Review

Official Secrets is in select theaters on September 13th, 2019.

Inside Game is based on the true story of Tim Donaghy (played by Eric Mabius of Cruel Intentions), a former NBA referee who pleaded guilty in 2007 to conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting wagering information through interstate commerce. While Donaghy always maintained he never made a bad call, this movie claims to show what really happened between him and his childhood teammates, drug dealer and in-between man Tommy (Party of Five’s Scott Wolf) and bookie and gambling/drug addict Baba (Will Sasso).

As I’m not much of a basketball fan, I hadn’t heard about this scandal before, but when I saw the trailer, I knew I had to watch it. As an experienced ref, I felt I had to. Unfortunately for me, the plot was much more concerned with sports gambling then it was with officiating. Nevertheless, I will definitely be watching Donaghy’s 60 Minutes interview and scouring his Wikipedia page for the “other side” of the story. A quick scan shows me what I guess should have been obvious but was never mentioned on screen—Tommy and Baba are part of the mob.

While the movie definitely could have been better made—it was littered with clichés and towards the end fell off the melodramatic deep end—the fascinating story still makes it worth the watch.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Joanna (Guest Contributor) was born and raised in Metro Detroit. A fan of thought-provoking thrillers and indie films, she also enjoys a good chick flick. When not at the movies, she can be found running, reading, or writing bar trivia.
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