Hoosiers (1986)
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A new coach with a spotty past takes over a small-town Indiana high school basketball team and leads them on a journey to the state championship.
The story
In 1951, Norman Dale arrives in rural Hickory, Indiana, to serve as a teacher and head basketball coach. The townspeople are disappointed that their best player, Jimmy Chitwood, has left the team following the death of the previous coach. Norman begins drilling the remaining seven players with fundamentals and conditioning, much to the community's dismay. He faces opposition from a fellow teacher who wants Jimmy to focus on his studies and from a town that is skeptical of his slow, defensive coaching style. The team struggles with internal discipline and a lack of community support as Norman attempts to build a cohesive unit.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1951, Norman Dale arrives in rural Hickory, Indiana, to serve as a teacher and head basketball coach. The townspeople are disappointed that their best player, Jimmy Chitwood, has left the team following the death of the previous coach. Norman begins drilling the remaining seven players with fundamentals and conditioning. During the season, he faces community backlash for his defensive style and is eventually voted out by disgruntled residents. However, Jimmy Chitwood returns to the team on the condition that Norman remains coach, leading to a series of wins. To prove the value of his assistant coach, Wilbur 'Shooter' Flatch, Norman intentionally gets ejected from a game, allowing Shooter to devise a winning play. Despite a relapse by Shooter, the team advances to the state tournament in Indianapolis. Facing the heavily favored South Bend Central Bears, the underdog Huskers fight back to tie the game with seconds left. Norman sets up a final play where Jimmy scores just before the buzzer, securing the victory for Hickory as the smallest school to ever win the Indiana state championship. The film ends with a voiceover from Coach Dale to the team.
- Original title
- Best Shot
- First release year
- 1986
- Runtime (minutes)
- 115
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Anspaugh
- Writers
- Angelo Pizzo · writer; Angelo Pizzo · producer
- Cast and characters
- Gene Hackman · Norman Dale; Barbara Hershey; Dennis Hopper
- Genres
- sports drama
- Themes
- underdog sports; redemption; community; mentorship
- Tone and mood
- inspiring; sentimental; dramatic
- Setting
- Rural Hickory, Indiana in 1951
- Premise and plot tags
- sports drama; based on actual events; biographical
- Source material / true-story basis
- Inspired in part by the Milan High School team who won the 1954 state championship against Muncie Central High School.
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics and was praised for its craftsmanship and performances, though some noted its sentimental nature and lack of originality.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 90% · review count: 49; Metacritic · score: 76 · scale: 100 · review count: 13
- Production trivia
- The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2001.; The final game was filmed in the same gymnasium that hosted the 1954 Indiana state championship game.; Five actors were suspended by the NCAA for being paid to play basketball.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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