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Just in time for March Madness, and in the wake of the new Olympic hockey flag-waver Miracle, comes a revival of Hoosiers (1986), the ultimate feel-good sports movie. Starring the peerless Gene Hackman as a willful high school basketball coach with a shady past, and Dennis Hopper as the alcoholic (but soon-to-be-redeemed) father of one of his players, David Anspaugh’s beloved minor classic is based on the true story of an undersized, seemingly outclassed team from a small town that won the Indiana state basketball championship in the early 1950s. The performances are uniformly superb (Hopper was nominated for an Academy Award), the period atmosphere authentic, the modest heroism truly moving. Devotees of underdog-makes-good sports movies usually list Rocky, The Bad News Bears and Rudy among their favorites (the aforementioned Miracle has also joined the ranks), but Hoosiers may be the best of them all: heartfelt, observant in every detail, beautifully acted from the first sideline rant to the last buzzer-beater.
Hoosiers screens at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 20, at Starz FilmCenter as part of the venue’s Americana Film Series. Starz is in the Tivoli building on the Auraria campus; for information, call 303-820-FILM or visit www.denverfilm.org
