Hoosiers. A pleasing, albeit predictable and cliché-filled high school basketball movie from director David Anspaugh (Rudy). Set in the early 1950s, it’s the old saw about the underdog team that goes all the way to the state championships—that state, as you no doubt surmised from the title, being Indiana. Gene Hackman is the tough coach with a checkered past who preaches fundamentals and teamwork, Barbara Hershey the school’s principal, and Dennis Hopper the town drunk given a second chance. Although not strongly individualized, a few of the players leave a lasting impression: the short kid who shoots underhanded from the foul line (i.e., the “granny shot”); the one who, before taking to the floor, bows head and prays on bended knee. And then there's Buddy (Brad Long) and my favorite bit: after being sidelined in the semi-finals watch as Buddy shoots a sideways look at Coach and tells him, “It was Dentyne” (earlier he’d been advised to stick close to a high-scoring opponent, to think of chewing gum and, by the end of the game, to know what flavor he is).
Nominated for two Academy Awards, this triumphant tale of a high school basketball team s long-shot attempt to ascend to the State Championship is fil...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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