Between Two Worlds

The post from a few days ago on the high school kids who got a chance to play in a game made me a bit nostalgic for one of my favorite films: Hoosiers. It's amazing all the themes and images woven into this wonderful film (now 23 years old): redemption, family, romance, small-town Midwest, 1950s, addiction, friendship, community, discipline, David vs. Goliath, etc.

Here are the open credits, which set the stage well for the narrative to follow:



The best basketball documentary is undoubtedly Hoop Dreams (1994). Here is Amazon's review:

This completely absorbing three-hour documentary follows the lives of two inner-city African American teenage basketball prodigies as they move through high school with long-shot dreams of the NBA, superstardom, and an escape from the ghetto. Taking cues from such works as Michael Apted's 35 Up, director Steve James and associates shot more than 250 hours of footage, spanning more than six years, and their completed work actually moves like an edge-of-the-seat drama, so brimming with tension, plot twists, successes, and tragedies that its length--170 minutes--is never an issue. Yet, what makes the film more impressive is how James moves his scope beyond a competitive sports drama (although the movie has plenty of terrific, nail-biting basketball footage) and addresses complex social issues, creating a scathing social commentary about class privilege and racial division. The film opens by introducing William Gates and Arthur Agee, two Chicago hopefuls, as they are being courted and recruited by various high schools to play ball, and continues until the pair are college freshmen. James allows the audience the experience of not only watching their journeys and daily routines (it's a sobering portrait of inner-city life), but also witnessing their maturation. Each takes a separate path along the way, stumbling over several obstacles (William suffers injuries, Arthur fails to meet his coach's high expectations); but James takes particular care to stress the importance and strong commitment of each character's family along the way, giving the film a essential center. The parents and siblings emerge with as much depth and complexity as the two main "characters," and turn Hoop Dreams into an unforgettable film experience. --Dave McCoy

In 2005 reporter Adrian Wojnarowski published his book, The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty.

Now Coach Hurley and his team are the subject of an upcoming documentary, which looks good, too: