Sports fans will enjoy it, but it may strike out with others

Rating: 7/10 (22 April 2007)

In a state that's so football crazy, whether it's high school, college or professional, it's great to see a movie that celebrates a Texas team that won the state's only NCAA tournament championship. Actually, in 15 of the first 20 NCAA tournaments, there was at least one school from the Lone Star state, but none made it past the Final Four until that magical 1965-66 season. It was no overnight feat that Haskins accomplished (this film shows him starting in 1965, when in actuality his Texas Western team had reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen a year before that.) When you see the beginning disclaimer "Based on the true story..." you know there will be scenes that are either untrue or overly dramatized for effect, but it still amazes me that films like this and SEABISCUIT contain gross historical inaccuracies. But history never stood in the way of a good Hollywood film and it probably never will. All that being said, I was mildly disappointed in this movie. The characters never really engaged me on an emotional level. There was no real effort to bring much humor or romance into the movie, and it could have used more of either or both as a contrast to the racial tensions that were all too real back then. Still, it makes for an interesting look at how the culture has changed in 40-plus years and it does OK as a sports movie. But it's a long way from being up there with some of the truly great ones like THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES or the aforementioned SEABISCUIT. And as an overall lover of movies, I feel it's worth watching as a better-than-average sports movie, but not particularly great for those who aren't interested in that genre. Dale Roloff