Hoosiers: Pass me the plot, I'm open!

So, I haven't seen Rudy, and it's been awhile since Chariots of Fire, so perhaps I just don't have the 80's sports film vocabulary, but I think this film isn't good. I say this regretfully, since there is a great deal of it that is very interesting... or verging on very interesting... I guess it just struck me as having a very weird rhythm. We are to assume huge amounts during the montages, and yet not mind the crawling pace of the "plot establishing" scenes. That could be because the team members are actual basketball players, so the acting just feels glacial. But, beyond that, there are several times that really signifigant things happen, and no one seems to know why. Like the writer. And the director. There isn't any insight into any of the characters beside a brief once-over of Dennis Hopper's son, and yet we are to assume each character feels a great many things, and acts on them, and Indiana is a better place for it.

Like I said, I don't know the language of this type of film, but when Gene Hackman (who I love) was standing out on the make-shift practice court, telling the town's best player (who refuses to play) he doesn't owe anyone his talent, I was expecting a great struggle to earn that player's participation. Yet ALL OF THE SUDDEN, he walks in front of the town, a few scenes later, and announces that he'll re-join the team if Hackman stays. Why?! Why wouldn't he play in the first place?! I understand the reason given right off, but I'm gonna admit right now: I don't buy it! None of this shit was sold to me!

And yet, there are some beautiful moments in this film. THe understated ones that supported the rest of the film. Quite a bit of the non-basketball blocking plays out very gracefully, the way the games should BUT DON'T. I often saw fleeting shots that forced me to feel what Basketball is like... but the unfolding of each game itself was ignored. It was as if Ang Lee were directing a piece of Americana--the film just didn't get it.

Now, Jerry Goldsmith's score is an entirely different story...