Chiefs

I flipped through this movie on PBS, and saw what looked like a high school basketball game, so I flipped back. By the end of the film, I was glad I did. This film gives the viewer an honest glimpse not only into the lives of the high school basketball players it follows, but also into life on an Indian reservation.

The film follows a high school basketball team based on an Indian reservation in Wyoming. It follows the players as they play through a couple seasons, and also follows their lives after their playing days are done--somewhat along the lines of The Basketball Diaries. It's not to be missed.

Following a Wyoming Indian High School basketball team over the course of two seasons, this documentary provides an excellent look at how basketball is woven into the fabric of reservation life. The Chiefs are perennial state tournament entrants, and the unique style they bring to the game with their fast-breaking, quick scoring abilities really make the game footage exciting to watch. There are incidents of the racial tensions they encounter when they play games off the reservation, and hardships they face growing up in one of more poverty stricken areas of the country. I like everything about this movie, the scenery, the stark look of the reservation, the feeling of hopefulness you feel at the end make it a worthwhile way to spend 1 1/2 hours.