The best-laid plans so often go awry. I had a plan to start a new series with this month’s review. I was searching for inspiration for what to write about instead. Then Gene Hackman died. That made things much easier. He has several iconic roles and was part of several more amazing ensembles, but when I think of Gene Hackman on screen, my first image is always of Coach Norman Dale and Hoosiers (1986, dir. David Anspaugh).
Hoosiers is the story of a small-town Indiana high school (Hickory) where basketball is like oxygen. Their coach dies unexpectedly, causing two things to happen: star player Jimmy Chitwood (Maris Valainis) quits the team, and the school hires Norman Dale (Hackman) to replace him. Coach Dale ruffles a lot of feathers early on, causing two more players to quit initially (both eventually rejoin the squad). Chitwood is closely protected by another teacher, Myra Fleener (Barbara Hershey), but she comes around, and Chitwood soon saves Dale’s job by only agreeing to play again if he remains the coach. Dale hires a town drunk who happens to be a player’s father (Dennis Hopper) as an assistant coach. What follows is Hickory’s season in a unique high school format where all schools, regardless of size, compete in one tournament to crown the state champion.
Hackman brings together all his best traits for this role. He has a commanding presence as the coach on the court – eventually having those boys ready to run through walls for him if he asked. He has the “aw shucks” demeanor that makes you want to root for him, yet he has a hint of danger with him at all times. His locker-room speech before the penultimate game is legendary and feels as authentic as if you were watching a seasoned coach address an actual team. But what ultimately stands out for me is the subtlety and restraint that he shows in and around big moments. It is a finely tuned performance brilliantly crafted by one of the best to ever do it.
Arguably the best basketball movie ever made (do not confuse this statement with the best basketball scenes in film), it picked up the trail in sports movie underdogs from its predecessors, notably the Rocky franchise. In a particularly (and often parodied/homaged) noteworthy scene, when Hickory makes it to the state finals, Coach Dale measures several aspects of the court and tells his wide-eyed players that the dimensions of the court in this gigantic (to them) gymnasium are the same as their court in Hickory, which calms their understandable nerves a bit.
Hoosiers is a film that acts like its Hickory basketball team – it sneaks up on you before eventually winning you over. As evidenced by the scores below, it is not a movie that excels in any one area. For every exceptional performance (Hackman, Hopper, and Hershey are all wonderful), there is a lesser performance (mostly the team – virtually all of them making their film debuts and final movie appearances). The script is not going to show up on any “all-time best” lists. Quick – name the second-best of his films. No, this film succeeds because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Kind of like the best championship teams.
FUN FACT – Hackman did not think much of Hoosiers while they were filming it – allegedly telling co-star Dennis Hopper that both of their careers would be ruined by appearing in this. When he saw an early cut of the film, he apologized to the director and remarked how impressive he thought it was that they could pull a good film out of what they shot.
Just Watch says that Hoosiers is not currently streaming on any service. It is available for rent/purchase on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.
As a reminder, here is the original post that details the scores and weighting system.