#302: Hoosiers

Release Date: November 14th, 1986

Format: Streaming (Tubi)

Written by: Angelo Pizzo

Directed by: David Anspaugh

3 Stars

To some, Hoosiers is the greatest sports movie ever made. To others, it’s just another one of those Reagan-era ‘80s pictures that’s overtly nostalgic for the perceived simplicity of the 1950s. 

The truth lies somewhere in the middle, but there is no denying that Hoosiers has its share of beauty.

The film is about a down and out basketball coach, Norman Dale (Gene Hackman), who takes over the head coaching job at Hickory High School in Hickory, Indiana, the type of small farming community where the goats probably outnumber the people. 

But if there’s one thing you can say about small-town Hoosiers, it’s that they love their basketball. Coach Dale finds this out quickly when the local townsfolk have plenty to say about his coaching style, and his emphasis on conditioning and fundamentals. Better to focus on shooting they tell him, especially since Hickory is without their leading scorer and star player, Jimmy Chitwood (Maris Valainis), a generational talent who is mourning the sudden death of Hickory’s previous coach. The old coach was a paternal figure for Jimmy, and now Jimmy simply doesn’t want to play.

No matter for Coach Dale. He respects Jimmy’s decision, and he believes he can whip these other Hickory farmkids into shape and teach them the right way to play the game. That’s what winning is, he tells the team: “If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don't care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book we're gonna be winners."

That’s not what the local yokels had in mind, though, when the Hickory Huskers open the season with a handful of losses. Frustration builds and they hold a town meeting to vote Coach Dale out. 

But then who shows up to the town meeting other than Jimmy Chitwood. Turns out he’s been watching his old teammates from a distance, and Coach Dale, and he wants to play. 

But only if Coach Dale stays, he says.

The townsfolk let Coach Dale keep his job, and with Jimmy Chitwood back, the young Huskers start believing in themselves and their new coach, and a winning streak puts them on a Cinderella path to the Indiana State Finals.

Hoosiers has a simplicity that wins you over. Both writer Angelo Pizzo and director David Anspaugh are native Hoosiers, so the film has a charming authenticity. Also, the basketball scenes are filmed and choreographed well; the filmmakers cast former high school basketball players to play the Huskers. Hackman is great, too, as is the supporting cast. 

Unfortunately, Hoosiers’ simplicity also makes the film formulaic. Obviously there’s the underdog tale of the Hickory Huskers basketball team, but there’s also a romantic angle that’s tacked on, when Coach Dale falls in love with a fellow teacher played by Barbara Hershey. It’s a bit contrived. 

Still though, the weaknesses of Hoosiers are far outweighed by its strengths, and that includes a magnificent score from Jerry Goldsmith. It’s simply mesmerizing. Anspaugh provides shots of cornfields and lonely country highways and kids shooting hoops outside, and over it he lays Goldsmith’s ethereal score that beautifully mixes traditional orchestral instruments and synthesizers.

It makes Hickory, Indiana seem like a magical place, where even the impossible could happen.