Norman arrives to the small town of Hickory, Indiana, to work as the basketball coach in a high school, upon the invitation of the principal and his old friend. Norman falls in love with a fellow teacher, Myrna. He is rejected by the seven-member team for his unorthodox methods, among others because he refuses to rely on the arrogant star-player Jimmy who left the team, but slowly gets their appreciation. They don’t perform well, so they get help from the alcoholic Shooter as the associate coach. They win the championship in the end.
“Hoosiers” is a good little film, albeit with a limited appeal: it will be more interesting to sports fans, less so to the cineasts who are indifferent towards basketball. It has a warm, wonderful musical score that gives it a sweet melancholy, but its main highlight is the seemingly always excellent leading actor Gene Hackman, who gives another charming and charismatic performance as the coach Norman, a man with dignity even when things are not going according to his plan. In one notable moment, the six-member team is introduced to the audience in a gym, but the crowd wants to see Jimmy, the main star who quit the team, and thus just chants his name. Norman then steps in and says this on the microphone: “I would hope you would support who we are, not who we are not.” In another, when a player is on his knees, praying during the game, Norman walks up to him and says: “Strap, God wants you on the floor.” Some of the players take after him: “Let’s win this game for all the small schools that never got the chance to get here.” Dennis Hopper was praised as the alcoholic associate coach Shooter, yet few of his scenes stand out, and he generally stays in Hackman’s shadow. The ending is predictable, whereas the running time is overlong, yet there is a certain positive energy in the story that makes it work. But it is still clearly overall a level below the very similar, much more inspired “Breaking Away”.
Grade:++
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