In What Movie Did Gene Hackman Dress as a Woman
FILM: GENE HACKMAN AS A COACH IN 'HOOSIERS'
- Hoosiers
- Directed by David Anspaugh
- Drama, Sport
- PG
- 1h 54m
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February 27, 1987
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Section C , Page
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WHO could resist a tiny Middle Western town where the barber shop is called Rooster's and the game of basketball is foremost on every mind? Probably no one, and the quaintly innocent ''Hoosiers'' is irresistible in much the same way. This film's very lack of surprise and sophistication accounts for a lot of its considerable charm. As written by Angelo Pizzo, directed by David Anspaugh, imbued with a convincingly old-fashioned look and acted in a friendly, forthright manner, ''Hoosiers'' seems about as sweetly unself-conscious as a film can be.
''Hoosiers,'' which opens today at the U.A. Twin and other theaters, is a sports drama about playing, competing and going the distance. But it presents those things simply, harkening back to a time well before ''Rocky'' was a gleam in Sylvester Stallone's eye. Based by Mr. Pizzo on a real David and Goliath episode in Indiana basketball history (the story of the 1954 Milan High School team), it tells the fictitious story of Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman), who in 1951 arrives in the remote hamlet of Hickory, Ind., a place where people have names like Opal and Cletus and Junior. ''This place don't even appear on most state maps,'' says his fellow teacher Myra Fleener (Barbara Hershey), a straight-backed, guarded woman who is deeply suspicious of Coach Dale from the very start (though she eventually grows willing to go for long strolls through the farm country with him). ''A man who comes to a place like this, either he's runnin' away from somethin' or he has nowhere else to go,'' she says.
Sure enough, Coach Dale is running from an earlier career crisis in a much bigger league. And sure enough, this is his last chance. In addition to offering the coach a very clear shot at redemption, the story also introduces Shooter (Dennis Hopper), who has a phenomenal knowledge of basketball and also happens to be the town drunk. The coach's last chance turns out to be Shooter's last chance too, to regain his self-respect and also the love of his boy, who happens to be on the Hickory team. ''Son - oh, I wish I could be there!'' cries Shooter when the team stands on the brink of the state championship. It's a sentimental role, but Mr. Hopper manages to seem no less at home than he did in ''Blue Velvet.'' That alone is enough to make his Oscar nomination (which is for this film) well deserved. $ ? * * * Mr. Hackman is exactly right for the role of Coach Dale, bringing shrewdness and a varied temperament to a man who might otherwise have seemed bland. Though the coach does scandalize Hickory with his unorthodox methods - ignoring the advice of a former coach, booting the local sheriff and Rooster out of practice sessions, and enlisting Shooter as his right-hand man - his approach is generally too helpful to seem shocking.
When the Hickory team, made of farm boys who've ''probably never seen a building over two stories except in a photograph,'' according to the coach, go to the city for the championship competition, they are visibly unnerved by the sight of the big arena in which the game will take place. (All but one of the extremely clean-cut team members are played by non-actors from Indiana.) So the coach takes out his tape measure, and has the players measure some of the dimensions of the court, and reassures them that it is exactly equivalent to what they're used to. They are relieved; he may not be. ''It is big!'' he whispers excitedly a moment later.
''Hoosiers'' isn't. It's a small film, and a very admirable one. * * * ''Hoosiers'' is rated PG (''Parental Guidance Suggested''). It contains some mildly rude language. HEARTLAND HOOPS HOOSIERS, directed by David Anspaugh; written by Angelo Pizzo; director of photography, Fred Murphy; film editor, C. Timothy O'Meara; music by Jerry Goldsmith; produced by Carter de Haven and Mr. Pizzo; released by Orion Pictures Corporation. At U.A. Twin, Broadway and 49th Street; Gemini Twin, 64th Street and Second Avenue; U.A. East, First Avenue and 85th Street; Loews 84th Street Six, at Broadway; 23d Street West Triplex, near Eighth Avenue. Running time: 115 minutes. This film is rated PG.
Coach Norman Dale...Gene Hackman; Myra Fleener...Barbara Hershey; Shooter...Dennis Hopper; Cletus...Sheb Wooley; Opal Fleener...Fern Persons; George...Chelcie Ross; Rollin...Robert Swan; Rooster...Michael O'Guinne; Mr. Doty...Wil Dewitt; Sheriff Finley...John Robert Thompson.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/27/movies/film-gene-hackman-as-a-coach-in-hoosiers.html
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