I want to explain my potential personal bias towards this film before I start to review it. I was born, raised, and continue to live in Indiana. I am not quite old enough to directly recall the events of the movie, but I am old enough for the legend of those events to have haunted my entire primary education. The attitudes towards high school basketball in Indiana really only has one equivalent that I am aware of, and that is high school football in Texas. I currently work with people that sincerely believe that "dunking" a basketball and the three point shot ruined the game. They look at this film with a strange reverence, and and even stranger dismissal, because they think they could have coached better than Gene Hackman.This film correctly portrays Indiana as the whitest place on earth. It isn't until the state championship before a person with a skin tone darker than a mild sunburn appears on the screen. The film sets these black, voiceless young men up as the enemies. The movie lets its prejudice, back wood, farmers that all but lynch Hackman off the hook. It allows them to be "concerned parents and supporters", while the black students are shoved into the role of antagonist.The film also correctly interweaves Christian beliefs to basketball. Basketball in Indiana was a religion. Bobby Knight was a God. Not the God, but a God in the vein of the ancient Roman Gods. He was the God of the rim. I have been to dozens of classic early 20th century high school gymnasiums, and let me tell you, those are not gyms. They are cathedrals. More praying has been done in these places of worship than in all of the churches in the state. High school basketball in Indiana is a religion.Now more about the movie specifically. I have seen silent Soviet films that use less montage than this film does. It has CHARIOTS OF FIRE syndrome to the enth degree. Throw in an underdog story (complete with a David vs. Goliath speech), and they are basicly the same film.How is it possible that Dennis Hopper looks more frightening when he is supposed to be dried out? His storyline was left unfinished in my opinion. I felt like he got short changed by the film. The principal's heart attack story thread is also left unfinished. The town people felt that they needed Jimmy in order to have a successful team. Coach didn't want Jimmy. The townspeople nearly turned into an angry mob with pitchforks and torches. They try to run coach out of town, but Jimmy says he will play, but only if coach stays. Up until that point, the team was not winning. jimmy joins and the team starts winning. The townspeople were right. Coach look kind of like an a-hole. To further this point, he demands that his way is the only way. Any player that goes against that will sit the bench or get kicked off the team. Until the players start calling their own plays, and the montages totally forget about the 4 pass rule. The game became a series of touch and shoot baskets. Again, the coach is made to look foolish, if you look into it.So why give this such a high star rating and a *like* on here? It is in my blood. I was over 6 feet tall in junior high, and it was expected that I play basketball. The problem was that I was only about 120 pounds and uncoordinated as all get out. I enjoy the game, and learned a defensive style that played to my strength, but I couldn't dribble, and my shot was even worse. But still, basketball is woven into my DNA.I avoided this film for decades because I didn't want to associate myself with the fanatics, both of the game and the movie. This was my first viewing, and I am glad to have taken part in the initiation.
