a terrific little film

Rating: 9/10 (30 October 2001)

Maybe I'm biased, being born and raised in Indiana, playing ball and feasting on stories of Bobby Plump, Oscar Robinson, Damon Bailey, and legends of Hoosier Hysteria, but this film is my favorite sports flick of all time. Based in part of the story of how tiny Milan upset mighty Muncie Central in the 1954 Indiana state championship game, the movie is inspirational. Hackman and Hopper give great performance as a coach looking for redemption, and his drunken assistant looking to do the same. There's also sweet-shooting Jimmy Chitwood (a thinly veiled nod to Plump) who ever good ole Indiana boy like myself wanted to be.
At it's heart this is a movie about David overcoming Goliath, and of characters redeeming themselves in the face of incredible odds. It's your classic inspirational sports movie that also manages to capture the feel of small-town Indiana incredibly well. A darn good flick.