A powerful sports drama with a motivational score like only the 80s could produce...

Rating: 8/10 (25 July 2019)

"We love it when giants fall. It's part of our collective social consciousness. We build up heroes and once they reach a certain plateau of success over a period of time, we tire of them. We love underdogs and want to see an upset"
This is from Stephen Denny's "Killing Giants", a fascinating book drawing many parallels between business competition and the sports world, insisting that while anyone can be small size-wise, there's no such a thing as a small player, it's even the most enviable position as you've got to beat the odds as well as the opponent. That's why cinema too loves underdogs, it's the stuff dreams are made on.
David Anspaugh's "Hoosiers" is one of these sports movies, distilling from real-life a story that underlines the term "underdog" so much the film might only be accused of insisting too much on the "small" thing; small town, small high school, relatively small basketball players, to the point that "Rudy", the second feature film from Anspaugh makes a perfect companion piece to "Hoosiers". And like "Rudy", the main cast doesn't actually play the game, the team is "only" the instrumental device meant to bring pride to the Indiana farmers, the Hoosiers people. Their shot at the championship is theirs for feeling significant and happy and accepting the banal normality of their life. Sport is an instrument of social cohesion and it's the film's credit to evoke the passion from the outsider's perspective.
Here's another example: few weeks ago, the Moroccan team was eliminated from the African Nations Cups in the worst possible way: a missed penalty shot at the 93rd minute that would have meant victory. Those make-it-or-break-it moments define the fascination for sport, a metaphor for life where one tactical choice, one move, a boost of insurance or a moment of hesitation make the difference, one can get off a game as a hero or a pariah, the verdict of the crowd is part of the game too. As Moroccans, we all felt shaken and betrayed not much because our country lost but because we were prevented from an opportunity to be happy. And the vox populi blamed the coach for having picked the wrong player. This is a situation Norman Dale could have related to.
Some aspects of the Hickory team's story have been fictionalized and I read that the real coach wasn't exactly a middle-aged man but it doesn't matter, the film does add a few cinematic conventions but finds a nice way to make Hickory's ascension to the title tie the plot together, with the overarching idea that everyone deserves a second chance, it's all a matter of seizing the opportunity once it comes. For once, it's not about the players, they're good already, the closest to a real underdog is a vertically-challenged boy who must deal with mockeries and his own insecurity, and Jimmy, an enigmatic young prodigy who's mourning the death of the previous coach and refuses to play anymore. We expect his entrance to be pivotal in the plot and it is, but in a way that honor the script's restrained tone, not going for cheap emotionality despite the temptations. This is not the eighties' "Rocky's".
The film doesn't play either the circumstances that pushed Dale outside the basket court like a sort of trauma or big reveal, Gene Hackman with his unbeatable instinct to play normal guys, plays it smoothly as someone who doesn't want to get into trouble and tries to deal with the defiance of the townsfolk who disapprove his methods (some are on his side though). The philosophy of Norman is that whoever wants to play gets in the court, he respects Jimmy's choice and never tries to overstep the boundaries of his authority and doesn't want in return his authority to be defied. He's a man of discipline but not an iron-hand either. And because he believes in second chances, he gives one to Shooter, a former star and player's father, played by Dennis Hopper (Oscar-nominated for the role).
Hopper gives a remarkably desperate energy that cuts straight in your heart, a man for which basketball meant something and is transmitting not only the passion but the expertise, that's the kind of nuances so smart and well-pointed that I regretted the film's needless romance with Barbara Hershey or a few missed moments with the players, who're getting with the coach the chance to be on the top of the world, and even once in a lifetime makes it all worth it. That was the philosophy of "Rudy" as well, something that transcended the banal goal of victory and make sport the real star of the film. Basket-ball couldn't have a better homage, the tactical moves aren't just artistic licenses and we get enthralled by the final game and the way the winning points are won at the last minute, you might think it's unbelievable but sports is full of such unbelievable stories.
In his "Killing Giants" book, Denny provides an interesting example example among many others involves a 1941 boxing game where Joe Louis won by knocking down his opponent, a cocky Irishman named Bill Conn who wanted the knock-out although he had the game already, he seized the final opportunity to get him with an uppercut and the heavyweight title in the process proving that it's not over till it's over. Basket-ball allows more latitude to the players but also works under the same conditions, and right now I still don't know which score stuck the most to my mind, the final 43 to 40 or Jerry Goldsmith's inspirational theme that makes me want to take my trainers and go run ten miles, right now I have that music playing in my mind!