STICK FIGURES

Crooked Arrows, Hollywood's first lacrosse movie (opening nationwide June 1), isn't exactly a whole new ball game in terms of plot. The roster of sports flick clichés includes: Ragtag but lovable team from New York's Sunaquot reservation takes on arrogant prep school squad; coach redeems himself by leading his old school to state title; and misfit kid becomes unlikely hero. But the movie scores big when it comes to athletic action. Director Steve Rash hired Mark Ellis, a Hollywood sports coordinator whose previous work included Any Given Sunday and Miracle, to translate the game to film. Rash brought in former pro and college studs as assistants and cast only experienced players (3,000 tried out)—some of whom found themselves decidedly out of uniform in a scene evoking the game's origins hundreds of years ago.

PHOTO

KENT EANES/CROOKED ARROWS (LACROSSE)