The Winning Season

At least "The Winning Season" knows that the whole down-on-his-luck coach and group of misfit girls basketball team who learn about life and winning together type of story has been done before. They did unfortunately follow the exact same formula, but with a hint of whimsy and self-awareness, it's above average for the genre.

Emma Roberts and the other girls comprising the team actually come across as real teenage girls. I found them cute and funny. As a big fan of Sam Rockwell, he seems to be the reason why this film is pretty good. He's basically a drunken asshole, very unlikable, but he completely draws you in so there's a real emotional connection for the dramatic elements. And as he has demonstrated before, his physical comedy antics are perfect making the comedy scenes pretty funny.

"The Winning Season" has been done many times before, but here they managed to do it without being cheesy, while providing quality scenes of drama and comedy. If you like the genre, it is certainly worth a look.

In many ways, "The Winning Season" is a bit like "The Bad News Bears" for the 21st century, though I certainly enjoyed this newer film much more. I draw the comparison because a rather crude drunk (Sam Rockwell) reluctantly takes over as coach of a rather bedraggled team--much like Walter Matthau in "The Bad News Bears".

The film begins with Rockwell working in the kitchen at a greasy spoon. It seems his life has spiraled out of control and he is now being given a chance at coaching once again. But, he's a drunk and his relationship with his ex-wife and daughter are a mess...and he seems to have zero people or coaching skills. How the heck can he pull together a team consisting of only six girls to make a winning season?

This is an inappropriate film. It's fill of inappropriate language and I'd hate to think of either of my daughters ever having a coach like this guy. But, it's odd because you do like the guy in an odd way--he's not all bad. And, the dialog is quite clever and funny--and filled with expletives I think of it as a guilty pleasure--and a somewhat clichéd one as well. But, it's still likable and clever and well worth seeing if just for Rockwell's strange portrayal.

Sam Rockwell is perfect for this part, and does a great job with it. In real life h can't play basketball at all, but in watching this performance I found myself believing he was an all star. But he has a drinking problem, a very serious problem. The movie doesn't sidestep this at all, but it doesn't drag the movie down either. The actresses playing the girls all do a perfect job, and I commend them all. Emma Roberts is best, with Sharika Epps right behind. And Margo Martindale is fantastic, seems made for the part of the bus driver and then assistant coach. The Negotiation between her and Sam to take the job is hilarious. I won't give any real spoilers here, other than to say that I was left with the feeling that Sams Coach will recover in the end, and I found the ending was perfect for this disease, from which you're never totally cured.

Kind of Garden State with Basketball, a sneaky lowball story of a loser coach's shot of redemption with a girls' basketball team, the Lady Chargers, that is both very funny and also kind of effective on the drama front.

Everyone creates a low-fi vibe and just runs with it, small town values - we loved the comedy is in the small touches - and the timing - much of the comedy comes from the everyday conversations but just rings true.

If you like sports movies with a little more than just training and victory dances then this fits the bill well - it's well done at every step...

This is a great little movie with a lot of heart that should have gotten more notice. Sam Rockwell is great and continues to prove he's one of the best actors of his generation. Basically, it's about a guy coaching a high school girl's basketball team. A movie doesn't need to have a bunch of effects or explosions or twists to be great. This is an example of a solid, realistic script and wonderful actors coming together to make something that deserves to be seen. If a movie can make me laugh, cry and think, it's one I want to see again and again. You owe it to yourself to give this film a try. There aren't many movies about women's basketball, and I'm glad they took a realistic approach instead of the typical teenage fare.