Le grand défi

This film is primarily about Basketball, but don't let that fool you, I have no interest in the game but I was yanked into it and was feeling the passion of the coach, players and the town all the way through.

The underlying thread is of forgiveness and second chances. You never really know what was behind the need for these second chances, but that doesn't matter, you feel for these people, and a lot of that is to do with Gene Hackman.

One of my favourite actors, Hackman pulls off a fantastic performance here, with an amazing backup from Dennis Hopper. What a combination.

Passion, guts, determination, and without too much of a sickly taste in the mouth. A lovely film to watch.

"Hoosiers" is a film that feels like it was made during Hollywood's Golden Age. The movie is somewhat based on the true story of a small Indiana high school that defied the odds in 1952 and won the state basketball championship. Gene Hackman is the mysterious, hard-nosed coach that must win at all costs. However, he has a secret from his past that could tear the team apart. Hackman does some of the best work of his storied career here. His character is reminiscent of his Oscar-winning turn in "The French Connection" some 15 years earlier. Barbara Hershey is super as usual as one of the school teachers in town. Dennis Hopper shines the most in his greatest screen role. He received his lone Oscar-nomination here by playing a drunken father of one of Hackman's players. "Hoosiers" is very similar to "The Last Picture Show" in its ability to show small-town life at its most realistic. It is also a film that will have the whole audience cheering, ala "Rocky". Easily the best basketball film ever made and one of the best, and most under-rated, films of the 1980s. 5 stars out of 5.

This movie is authentic nostalgia for anyone who grew up in the mid-west in the 50's and 60's. It's what life looked like when I myself "came down to this planet" in the late 1940's and experienced my teens in the 60's.

The old school with high ceilings and gleaming wooden floors, the gyms with the gold-toned wall-tiles, even the hospital scene with the nurse in her starched white uniform -- all evoke a peculiar beauty that you no longer find today.

There is even a scene where a young teen girl yells "NO!" to an unjust referee call, and her pointy glasses and pony tail look so much like me back then, it feels like a glimpse into a parallel dimension.

I'd say this is a must-see experience for people my age -- although all ages can thoroughly enjoy the basketball action.

I'm glad for the social progress since then. But there is a "peculiar beauty" from those times that is starkly missing today.

David Anspaugh's "Hoosiers" is a film about the passion to excel in sports. It's also about a man's comeback to the game after a rough patch in his own life. "Hoosiers" is a timeless film that will look good after years of its release because it speaks to us about how someone can inspire a group of people to do their best, as they become confident in what they are trying to accomplish. The film was lovingly written for the screen by Angelo Pizzo.

Coach Norman Dale gets a reprieve in life when he is hired to coach the Hickory basket ball team in rural Indiana. Basketball is the game where most people in that state take an unusual interest. Their passion for the sport is evident. The new coach is looked with suspicion because he is an outsider and he believes in teamwork. He wants everyone to participate equally, which doesn't make for excitement in the court. The coach doesn't want anyone overshadowing another, that's why he insists in total involvement. Needless to say, his method clashes with the parents and towns people from the start.

The coach's past comes to haunt him when Myra Fleener, one of the teachers, discovers an article that reveals an incident Mr. Dale would like to forget. At the same time, Myra realizes the goodness in the coach's heart by involving the drunken Shooter into helping him with the team.

Gene Hackman has one of the best opportunities of his distinguished career with his portrayal of Coach Dale. He is splendid in the film and he wins us with his decency and by sticking to his principles, which he passes on to the team members. Barbara Hershey is also good as Myra, the young woman who falls in love with Dale. Dennis Hopper plays Shooter, the father of one of the kids in the team who has a drinking problem.

"Hoosiers" is an inspiring film that ought to be seen by young people because of its message about team spirit and how to interact with one another in peace and harmony.

I have been reading, and summing up comments about this movie. I can't believe how misunderstood this movie is. First and foremost this is not a movie about the Milan team's championship, and Bobby Plump's winning shot. The Milan game is the most famous, and storied game in Indiana and is only used as the quientessential example.

The movie is a collection of typical things that happen in Indiana High School basketball which is known as "Hoosier Hysteria". The locker room scenes are typical, found each year at tournament time. The small town involvement is typical. Players deciding if they want to succumb to the social pressures of the sport, or dreaming of winning is typical. Teacher nudging is typical. The appearance of religious faith is also typical in small town Indiana. It's right in the bible belt.

Smaller, less talented underdog teams are the life-blood of passion about playing, and winning. Winning systems, coaching tactics, fundamentals, and character-building are staples of the Hoosier H.S. game. Read John Wooden's books and you'll see them clearly. (John Wooden-Martinsville, IN; Purdue, and UCLA).

The character played by Dennis Hopper is underscored, not by his drunken state and redemption, but by his basketball knowledge. In Indiana, everyone from every walk of life knows more about the history of the game, and how to win the game than the coach. There are walking, talking Hoosier basketball historians in every small town.

Another Hoosier staple is the sequence of the tournament. Every march since the 1920's the Indiana H.S. tournament starts with a sectional, regional, sweetsixteen, and final four state championship. Hence, all games and scores that were shown in the movie. Although, Hickory H.S. is fictictious, the opposing team names were real Indiana schools in the western part of the state: Jasper, Linton, Logootee, etc.

The movie actually tried, but fell short in my opinion of the excitement at tournament time. The noise level, and absolute excitement of the H.S. tournaments is something you have to experience. Just walking into the gyms gives you chill bumps. Being the local game night hero is paramount, (but it creates it's own special problems.) I firmly feel, having experienced it myself, that the movie makers were trying to capture a unique phenomenon in sports using typical events. They displayed the key aspects of Indiana H.S. basketball in film to communicate the experience to the rest of the world.

I was pleased, and excited to see how many reviewers were inspired by the film. Many who lived these events over the years are similarly motivated.

P.S. Coaches do not kiss teachers except in Hollywood.