More than 25 years later, we see how that poison has spread throughout society. That's why Showtime's updated production of That Championship Season seems so incredibly timely and relevant. Given a light '90s reworking by Miller, the drama still has the power to remind us of the heavy price we pay when ignorance and intolerance wrap themselves around blind ambition. Although some of the play's references seem out of place in a 1999 setting, its messages go right to the heart of the hatred, paranoia and prejudice fueling too many divisions in our culture. That Championship Season, which Showtime will premiere Sunday night at 8, tells of four former high school athletes gathering 20 years after winning the Pennsylvania state basketball championship.
Coach sounds positive, loving and nurturing.
On some levels, he is. Only Tom fully accepts that the victory was stolen, that the championship season is a lie. No, the transition from stage play to cable movie isn't always smooth. And, because this jump is made with a few stumbles, the drama's greatest strengths sometimes become its greatest failings. It's wonderful, for instance, that Showtime has allowed That Championship Season to be filmed so faithfully, yet, by making so few allowances for a new medium, the film frequently seems static and claustrophobic.