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1986
Written by Angelo Pizzo Directed by David Anspaugh Starring Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper, & Barbara Hershey Music by Jerry Goldsmith |
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Plot Summary
Based on a true story, Hoosiers is a film set in a tiny town of Hickory, Indiana in 1951. The failed college men’s basketball coach finds a job to coach for the Hickory boys basketball team. Experiencing a lot of hate and inequality from the community, Coach Dale (Gene Hackman) struggled to have a winning team after a teacher (Barbara Hershey) at the school gets star player Jimmy Chitwood to quit the team to focus on schoolwork. The town is upset by this and takes most of it out on Coach Dale. Nevertheless, Coach works hard to get his boys ready without Jimmy. He then invites former player Wilbur “Shooter” Flatch, one of the player’s alcoholic father, to assist him as coach. Dale asks him of one thing: to stay sober at all times around the boys. Later in the season, the townspeople hold a meeting to decide whether or not to keep Coach Dale around. Just as the ballots are being counted, Jimmy walks in and states that he is ready to rejoin the team, but only if Dale stays coach. With Jimmy back on the team, they end up having a series of wins. Along the way, Coach Dale proves Shooter’s worth as assistant coach and gets himself ejected while Shooter plans a play that leads the boys to a last game-winning shot. Despite a delay with finding Shooter drunk at a sectional game, which ends up getting him into the hospital, the team advances through tournaments. Will the Hickory Huskers make it to Indiana State Championships?
The final
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Critic Review
By Francesca Bejarano
I thought that this movie was truly inspiring from the first four minutes of the famous theme song to the very last scene. Coming from a small school and playing the sport, it truly meant a lot. I thought that Coach Dale was a good coach for sticking to his team even though he went through a lot of bullying while being in the small town. He stayed true to himself no matter what and knew that he only had one job: to coach those boys to the best of his ability. The boys were at first struck by the seriousness of Coach Dale, which made some of them equip attitudes right off the bat. They didn't seem like the dream team at first, but they eventually came around and worked really hard together. I admire the story line of that. I thought that the storyline over all was pretty neat. It truly encompassed the very insprining story that many Americans today will have taken to heart. I love the soundtrack with every note, being so motivating. I will say that this movie is at the top of my list of favorites.