jb_campo Hoosiers is one of the best high school sports films ever made. Made me think of Bobby Knight because the story follows a washed up coach Norman Dale (Hackman) who gets one last chance to coach because of a personal friendship with the principal at Hickory HS. Like Knight, Hackman lost his job because of anger problems. He comes to Hickory to seek redemption.Hoosiers excels at so many levels. The cinematography is beautiful and breathtaking, capturing the local community and nature with wonderful shots of being alone in mid America. Hackman also gets isolated when he lets the locals know in no uncertain terms that HE is the coach, not them, and that they better let him be. Hackman delivers a masterful performance with his smiles and easygoing yet tough exterior. He uses charm to get his way, but he uses his tough character to teach the boys that he's serious about coaching them to be great.Barbara Hershey's character is more complex. A local who left and came back. She seems stuck in the mud, at time literally, in this little community, this little school of 84 kids. Never going anywhere. Makes you kind of think of George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life. Hershey is not as good an actor as Hackman by any stretch, and she had trouble keeping up with him. Also, the screenplay with their relationship left me wondering if that part made any sense. Hackman guides the team with help from a recovering drunk played wonderfully by a young Dennis Hopper as Scooter. He's terrific, and offers another challenge for Hackman to overcome, especially because his son is one of the stars on the team.The team improves when Jimmy rejoins the team after a personal tragedy. He's a star and immediately lifts the entire town. They fight and claw and battle and give it their all. Can they go as far as they are challenged to go?Like MacFarland or Friday Night Lights or other sports comeback flicks, this one will leave you cheering. I think the end could have been a bit longer and more played out. Plus the Hershey/Hackman relationship could have been revised a bit. Otherwise - great film. A classic basketball film that will have you cheering. Enjoy.

Casey Brown As a young kid I grew up around sports everywhere I went so this was naturally my favorite movie. It still is today. It's a feel good story with a somewhat slow introduction and it can be slow at times but you must be patient with this movie. Once it gets into the thick of things (the games) it really tenses up. Gene Hackman is just phenomenal in this film. Coach Norman Dale does everything he can to develop his team HIS way. He takes a semi-decent to poor team in high school and turns them into winners. The town people aren't exactly fond of his ways so he fights many battles. It seems as though the only way to prove himself is to win the championship, which is a long shot for what this team has accomplished recently.

edwagreen A truly wonderful basketball film with Gene Hackman arriving at a small Indiana town in 1951 to coach a high school basketball team. Hackman's arrival meets with contempt by the town's people as he attempts to instill his brand of discipline to a young team. Of course, when it's discovered why he left New York, it doesn't help his cause as well.The set decorations best depict Indiana during this period. Conservative as always, the people respect human values, but will they be tolerant of this newcomer?Barbara Hershey, as the acting principal of the school, is a difficult character to fathom. With pride for her school, yet an unhappiness but willingness to remain at the home town, her character needed more development, but is more than sufficient as depicted.This is definitely a story of redemption, commitment, and small town values in the 1950s. Dennis Hopper has some scene stealing moments as a town drunkard, who with a son on the team, eventually finds his way. Hopper was nominated for a well deserved best supporting actor Oscar for this 1986 film.

Maniac-9 If you were going to make the absolute best possible movie a sports movie can be, this would be it. You have a great lead in Gene Hackman playing a high school basketball coach coming to a small town to turn around a bunch of sad sack losers into a championship team. Overcoming teams from much bigger schools with much bigger players on their rosters. The locations and the atmosphere of the movie was spot on, they had a very bar minimum gymnasium to play in. The emphasis they put on basketball in small town Indiana was perfect since it really is the most important thing to the towns people since a small town like that doesn't have any pro sports teams of their own so they have to latch onto their high school teams.