96. HOOSIERS

MOSTLY NET, NO AIR

By Darin Skaggs

     Most of the people in my life were fairly big sports fans.  I do not have anything against sports, but I never became a fanatic like my father or grandfathers.  My focus and passion is on film.  That being said I love a good sports film.  Rocky, Field of Dreams, Million Dollar Baby and the original The Bad News Bears are some of the best sports films out there, but the greatest is 1986’s Hoosiers. 

Gene Hackman, one of my favorite actors plays Coach Norman Dale the new coach of this team in the town where basketball is everything.  He comes in the town and is not very welcomed and is constantly being told how to do his job.  Dale does not take any slack though, he does what he wants and what he thinks is right for the team.  He has to deal with the absence of a talented player, Jimmy, who decides he does not want to play.  He also hires an assistant coach, Shooter who is a recovering alcoholic and a father to one of the players.  Eventually this hack team is made great by coach and the players.  They do so well that they make it to the playoffs. 

     This film has some of the greatest characters and character arcs of any film.  The performances by everyone and the writing makes you care so much about the outcome of these people’s lives during the course of the school year.  Every player gets a good moment in the film and is shown a side of him that makes them feel like real people instead of made up characters.  Hackman is great, giving some of the greatest speeches.  You can’t help but feeling motivated and pumped after any scene in the locker room or right before a play. 

     Another great thing about the film is the realism during the game scenes.  All the actors had to learn and play basketball really well.  The game scenes are just as good as any of the drama behind the game.  The cuts to the players making shots or missing to the score are always exciting.  When the team wins a game you feel the excitement for them like you would your favorite team winning a game.

     Now no film is perfect.  Some have too many problems to give it a positive review, others just have little things here and there but are so overwhelmingly good that you don’t let the flaws bother you.  This film just has one thing wrong with it.  In the beginning of the film Dale meets one of the schools teachers, Myra Fleener, and they have a small argument.  They are at most a decade apart in age and have no real scene where they look like they are attracted to one another.  Yet, a little over half way through the film they kiss.  Dale says “I wanted to do that since the moment I laid eyes on you.”  There is no hint of any feelings for one another and a scene clearly only added for women who had to go see this film with their husband.  It is a love story that did not need to be added, without it the film would be much better and near perfect in my opinion.  Instead it just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth in this mostly sweet film.

     Hoosiers, like I said is the greatest sports film of all time.  It is one of the most inspiring and motivating films I’ve seen. There are great performances by some of my favorite actors.  It’s not perfect but that will not ever stop me from loving it.