Yes, it’s that time of year when fans get excited over their favorite state high school and college basketball tournaments. Like the tradition of watching the film “It’s a Wonderful Life” at Christmas time, a more recent tradition for this time of year is watching, what is arguably, one of the best sports movie ever made: “Hoosiers.” I don’t watch much basketball; it’s not one of my favorite sports; but the movie Hoosiers is one of my favorite movies.
Why is Hoosiers a good movie? First, it is a movie about the underdog overcoming great obstacles and adversity. The movie is about Coach Norman Dale (played wonderfully by Gene Hackman), who is a disgraced coach, who after 12 years gets a second chance to coach the varsity basketball team at Hickory High School, a small high school (enrollment 64) in rural Indiana. The team Dale is coaching is talented, but undisciplined, spoiled, and limited in numbers. The townspeople of Hickory are generally unsupportive of Coach Dale, as in their eyes, he is an outsider who doesn’t measure up to their former beloved home-town coach. Then there is the suspicion of the assistance principal, Myra Fleener (played by Barbara Hershey), who suspects there is a dark side to Coach Dale, and wants him to stay away from the most talented player in Hickory, who has decided not to play basketball. There is the alcoholic father of one of the players, “Shooter” Fly (played by Dennis Hopper), who was once a star player for Hickory and the most knowledgeable person in the town about the game of basketball, but is now rejected by his son and the rest of the town as a hopeless drunkard. Finally, it about the Hickory team itself, which enters the Indiana State High School Basketball Tournament in hopeless odds against schools that are much, much larger than theirs.
Hoosiers is also a movie about redemption. It is about Coach Dale’s struggle to redeem his career and his reputation in the eyes of the town (who don’t like him) and Myra Fleener (who knows the truth about him). It is about the team becoming disciplined and believing and trusting the coach they initially rejected. It is about Shooter Fly hitting the bottom and coming back to be loved again by his son and having hope for the future.
Hoosiers is about values. Coach Dale confronts the Hickory fans when they disrespect the team. Dale also confronts his players by taking them out of the game when they disrespect him, even if it means the team plays shorthanded and looses the game. It is about Coach Dale confronting Shooter, telling him that he cannot drink alcohol if he wants to be the assistant coach, and what his behavior is doing to his son. It is about Coach Dale becoming a person who no longer believes in winning at all costs, and demonstrates that fact when the Hickory season is on the line.
Hoosiers is a family friendly movie. Below is the official trailer:
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