Coach

If you are looking for an academy award winner, this movie is not for you. It's just a fun romp back to the late '70s, when movies like this were geared to the teen/drive-in "party crowd" audience. Cathy Lee Crosby as the "hottie" coach that has an affair with one of her students is what made the movies at the drive-ins stand out from whatever was playing at the indoor theatres & even on TV! The fact that Crown International released this movie is also a testament that you know you're going to be in for something special. If you are a fan of B movies/classic drive-in movies, this one would be a valued addition to your video library.

Desperate to improve the performance of their boys basketball team, Granger High School hires two time Olympic medallist Randy Rawlings as coach without checking the gender of their new employee. When the school's sexist principal Fenton Granger (Keenan Wynn) discovers that he has unwittingly hired a woman (Cathy Lee Crosby), he is keen to get rid of her, but finds that he is legally bound to let her have the job—at least until she messes up, something that he tries to ensure will happen sooner rather than later.

An attractive 'fish out of water' teacher slowly earning the respect of both her stuffy peers and her unruly students: not exactly the most original idea for a film, but I still found Coach an interesting watch if only for the fact that Crosby's character acts in a seriously inappropriate and unprofessional manner, first by striking up a sexual relationship one of her underage players (played a young Michael Biehn), and then by throwing all of her sporting principles out of the window by allowing her team to win their final match using underhanded means. And all with zero consequences for the naughty woman!!!

A supposedly responsible adult with such dubious moral standards is so unusual in a movie like this that I find it hard not to enjoy just a bit, despite a bland script and lifeless direction doing their utmost to convince me otherwise.

I found the DVD version of this movie at a rummage sale. The basic premise is an affair between a teacher/coach a student. The acting is weak and the plot razor thin.

This movie had all the depth and plot development of an adult film.

A high school principal (Keenan Wynn) with a losing basketball team unwittingly hires a coach who turns out not only to be a gorgeous blond woman (Cathy Lee Crosby) but a catalyst for their new winning ways. Are you really surprised? Along the way a romance grows between the coach and the team's star player Jack (Michael Biehn). The police are never notified.

Packaged along with other Crown International Pictures as a grindhouse movie really does this film no service. This can easily be edited into a television movie of the week. Cathy Lee Crosby looks great as coach Randy Rawlings especially in her skimpy outfits but I expected more than mere titillation from an R-rated film. A side plot involving a dorky center who is hypnotized by his teammates into thinking he is former NBA player Sydney Wicks is the actual reason for the team's new success rather than Cathy Lee's coaching. Too much tease and not enough sleaze makes this a major disappointment.

In this offering, BCI paired COACH with "The Beach Girls" as a "Welcome to the Grindhouse double feature." This film hardly belongs in this category.

A losing basketball team, a curmudgeon school administrator (brilliantly played by Keenan Wynn); and, an illicit affair between the coach and a student about sums up this movie.

In addition, while the main characters, played by Cathy Lee Crosby and Michael Biehn, work hard to make the film work, the filmmakers really created something of a disappointment with COACH.

Cathy Lee Crosby's character works well with the team. First, she shows them who's the boss after her first practice. Then, she brings in outside talent, pro basketball player Sidney Wicks. Finally; and, perhaps fate-fully, she participates in their ribald sing-a-long on the bus.

By the way, how many times did Crown International Pictures use that Woody Guthrie "Hey Lolly Lolly" tune anyway? In any case, the acting on the part of the team members is capable as well as their basketball playing.

The score is heavy on the easy listening, romance ballads, which makes COACH seem syrupy. The only exception is the funky "Go Stallions GO," which played during the montage of their winning games. The music really served to heighten the intensity of the game play.

But in the end, it's "Jabberwocky, Jabberwocky, Jabberwocky" that saves the day.

Overall, the movie is pretty light-hearted; and, hard to hate. I give it a 5 out of 10 just for the e. e. cummings reference.