Delightfully entertaining.

Rating: 10/10 (21 March 2002)

Magnificent sports tale about a former college coach, Norman Dale (Gene Hackman)who's given a chance to redeem himself by coaching a boys' high school basketball team in a rural Indiana town.
Director David Anspaugh and his screen-writer, Angelo Pizzo, don't go for over-the-top in providing the numerous issues that Dale deals with constantly. Some of those issues play a pivotal role in the movie such as Dale hiring Shooter (Dennis Hopper), a former basketball star who's now confined to being the town drunk and father to one of the players. Another one being that Dale has only eight, not twelve team members, which includes the equipment manager (no pun intended).
As for the games, the tension is so real that you could feel like that you're there, watching the game unfold so quickly. Plus, I couldn't help to admit that it was certainly heart-pounding, without a doubt. The movie's photography, shot by Fred Murphy ("October Sky") with such excellent skill, makes the appearance of each gym and even the landscape takes your breath away. Also, the musical score, composed by Jerry Goldsmith, is definitely authentic and I'm left wondering why it's not available on CD.
"Hoosiers" is like the "Rocky" of basketball in a certain way, but by looking at these underdogs for a moment. Hackman and Hopper are both excellent here as the sports' version of "The Odd Couple". It immediately reminded me of the boys' prep teams in Wisconsin, not in Indiana.
Delightfully entertaining.