HOOSIERS (1986)

Title: HOOSIERS

Year of Release: 1986

Director: David Anspaugh

Genre: Drama, Sport

Synopsis: A man comes to Indiana to coach the town's basketball team, and finds resistance at first, but support arrives from some highly unlikely quarters.

Within a film history context: Several films with a basketball coach as their main character have been present in cinema since the 1920s. Sam Wood's silent THE FAIR CO-ED (1927), had the male coach of an all-female college basketball team being pursued by two of its players in this early comedy. Into the sound era, BIG TOWN SCANDAL (1948), directed by William Thomas, featured the editor of a publishing company assisting juvenile delinquents in setting up a basketball center for them, with him as coach in this crime movie. The basketball coach in Jack Nicholson's DRIVE, HE SAID (1971), was a testy man fully committed to winning the game, but had to contend with a number of wayward players in this drama. THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971), directed by Peter Bogdanovich, had a coarse coach who it was intimated played both sides of the field with one of the members of his basketball team, whilst being emotionally distant from his wife. 

Melville Shavelson's MIXED COMPANY (1974), followed the life of a basketball coach whose wife wants more children, but his inability in this arena puts a stop to this. She suggests adoption, a notion with which he is not comfortable, especially as she wants to adopt a black boy, a Vietnamese girl, and a Native American boy. ONE ON ONE (1977), directed by Lamont Johnson, was about a young basketball player who wins a college scholarship in Los Angeles, but must contend with a disagreeable coach, and associated academic difficulties in this sports film. Jack Smight's FAST BREAK (1979), focused upon a basketball aficionado who is offered a coaching position at a college, and brings together a motley crew of players to make a winning team. THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON (1982), directed by Jason Miller, featured an aging basketball coach reuniting with his players, but the initial happy spirit of the event goes in another direction as their respective personalities clash. HOOSIERS was the best film about a basketball coach in its time.

In HOOSIERS, the male basketball coach was the central character, motivating all the action in the film. This was also present in MIXED COMPANY, FAST BREAK, and, to a lesser degree, THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON. It was from the coach that passions, arguments, debates, and other events emanated. Their belief in the game, though, was more pronounced in the coaches from FAST BREAK and HOOSIERS than the other examples. These films were given over to extensive basketball game footage, and background information about both the coach, and his team members, which gave depth to the movies. HOOSIERS differed from FAST BREAK in that it was set in the 1950s, and was not contemporary of its era, as the latter was from the late 1970s. HOOSIERS was more of an inspirational narrative than FAST BREAK, where the coach assisted his team to reach the heights, and which he himself achieved. In contrast, FAST BREAK had a leaning towards comedy, with some dramatic moments interspersed. 

There are some other notable differences between FAST BREAK and HOOSIERS. The coach in HOOSIERS was instrumental in changing perceptions of the sport in the small town where he was coaching the players. There was a subtle inference to small town belief systems which take a tumble through the coach's methods for success. All-out antagonism was not displayed toward the coach, but a coming to grips for the townspeople of something new to them. While other examples such as THE FAIR CO-ED, DRIVE, HE SAID, and THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, had well-drawn interpretations of coaches, the characters in these movies took a back seat to HOOSIERS in the coverage the coach receives. One gets to know coach Norman Dale in detail in HOOSIERS, and what makes him tick. His interest in the opposite sex is treated in a naturalistic manner, with the union of two people who have a passion for basketball not forced in its execution. The best portrait of a basketball coach, HOOSIERS deserves credit for creating a three-dimensional character in this respect.

Overview: David Anspaugh is an American director with seven motion pictures to his credit. These are mostly dramas, with several sporting-themed movies amongst this group. Mr Anspaugh's second film, FRESH HORSES (1988), was about a university student who falls for a young Kentucky woman he meets one day, despite being already engaged. This young woman has a few surprises of her own in store for the man in this drama romance. RUDY (1993), was a biopic of real-life American football player Daniel Ruttinger, better known as Rudy, and his aspirations to play college football despite many setbacks in his professional life. MOONLIGHT AND VALENTINO (1995), was a romance of a recently widowed woman, and how several close female confidants support her at this critical moment in her life. The woman finds a new lease on life in the form of a housepainter whose attentions prove positive to her. 

Crime was the central element which pervaded WISEGIRLS (2002). When a former medical student starts waitressing at a New York Italian restaurant, she is plunged into a world of narcotics and dirty dealings in this suspense drama. THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES (2005), was another sports film outing for David Anspaugh. A tale of an American soccer team competing against England, and winning in the 1950 FIFA World Cup, it was, unfortunately, a heavy loss maker for its production company. Mr Anspaugh's last film to date, LITTLE RED WAGON (2012), was the inspirational story of a young boy whose work for homeless children resulted in the creation of a charity for support in this area. HOOSIERS marked David Anspaugh's film debut, and is his best movie.

With HOOSIERS, David Anspaugh has crafted an excellent motion picture. Taking as its focus a basketball coach assigned to train an Indiana team for the state championship, and the challenges he faces in his mission to make them winners, it is a beautifully made movie that compels from start to finish. David Anspaugh has achieved this in the following manner. The flow of events is seamless, teamed with a story which only offers emotional nourishment and satisfaction without being either saccharine, or gimmicky. Mr Anspaugh has succeeded in bringing his movie to life by providing it both an air of reality but also, making the viewer invest time and feeling in what is taking place onscreen. It lacks that obvious commercially driven aura which stigmatized many 1980s films, and is all the better for it. It does not have its eyes firmly planted only on the box office, but has the ability to tell an affecting story in a highly sensitive way. As David Anspaugh's greatest movie, and one of the best films of the 1980s, HOOSIERS is a winner. 

Acting: There are a number of performances in HOOSIERS which are exceptional. In the lead role of Norman Dale, coach of the basketball team, Gene Hackman is in one of his most sympathetic parts. While Mr Hackman usually plays protagonists who one would expect to explode emotionally, but keeps a veneer of uneasy calm, here he has that, but also, a slight vulnerability, and comic timing that is unforeseen. The thorn in Norman Dale's side, schoolteacher Myra Fleener, is a great showcase for Barbara Hershey. An actress highly adept at complex, multidimensional characters in her pictures, she carries this off beautifully in HOOSIERS, compelling the viewer with Myra's psychological twists and turns. Myra's mother, Opal, is a nice turn by Fern Persons. With her knowing ways and innate knowledge of her daughter's inner thoughts, Miss Persons' Opal is a subtle, lightly humorous portrayal which delights. The last acting of note was by Dennis Hopper as Shooter, a former basketball coach with psychological issues. As always, Mr Hopper makes his character's thoughts and actions thoroughly understandable to the audience, with his inimitable nerviness, and lack of inhibitions, which also lend his Shooter a fun edge.

Soundtrack: Jerry Goldsmith's score for HOOSIERS is perfect. Rousing during the many basketball sequences, and quieter in the character verbal exchanges, it works beautifully, considerably enhancing the visuals. It is also interesting to note that in the opening credits sequence the score is more romantic and solemn than in the closing credits, which is bolder in tone, matching the positive outcome of the story, and its inspirational focus.

Mise-en-scene: Visually, HOOSIERS has much going in its favour. The CFI colour photography by Fred Murphy has a muted but realistic flavour, which works for a movie that, although set in the 1950s, does not require screaming colour, as nostalgia is not the point of the enterprise, but raw human emotion and determination. Locations are all excellent, with the many outdoor scenes bringing the story of 1951 Indiana, Norman Dale and his basketball team, to vivid life. In turn, Carroll O'Meara's editing is smooth, with the exciting basketball segments assembled with style and nous. Additionally, his work on the character scenes are all satisfying and logical without ever being choppy. 

Notable Acting Performances: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Fern Persons, Dennis Hopper.

Suitability for young viewers: Yes.

Overall Grade: A

Link: IMDB Page

Trailer