HOOP DREAMS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1994 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Surprisingly engaging documentary that follows two promising inner-city basketball players from high school recruiting to freshman year at college. The story is surprising both in its completeness and the dramatic power it has, considering it is not a script that could be planned in advance. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4).
How does a documentary film like this get made? If a director has a script in front of him, he can be fairly certain that there will be some measure of drama coming out of the film he is shooting. A documentary about the Third Reich has got to give its director the relative security of being able to scan all the materials and assure himself that there is a story worth telling. But how did producers Fred Marx, Steve James, and Peter Gilbert know that if they started filming two promising junior-high-school level basketball players for four or five years that at the end of the time they would have a film with the dramatic impact of HOOP DREAMS? This is a documentary that sustains interest for its entire 174-minute length.
The film follows the high school careers of William Gates and Arthur Agee, two black Chicago boys, promising hoopsters, drafted by St. Joseph's, a suburban Catholic high school that has a strong emphasis on basketball. They are in the same program that developed star player Isiah Thomas. Both boys have learned to spell success "NBA." William comes to St. Joseph's on full scholarship, paid by a patron who holds a high position at the Encyclopedia Britannica. Arthur is not so lucky; he is on half scholarship with his family paying the balance. This difference will prove to have far-reaching effects on Arthur's high school basketball. Arthur's father becomes a crack addict, turns to crime, and is sent to prison. The Agees are unable to pay the school's tuition and Arthur is thrown out and must go instead to Marshall, a local all-black school. Despondent over family problems, Arthur has a very poor sophomore year while William prospers only to be brought low by a knee injury. The camera follows the story of the two players and the pressures to win that they face. Without a word of commentary the film stingingly indicts high schools and colleges that treat athletes like commodities. High schools programs treat athletes as if winning were everything; colleges treat them as if money is everything and winning is the way to get it.
250 hours of film were shot to provide the filmmakers with enough material to tell a complete and detailed story. Even so, one is often surprised that the camera was present and filming at what are often very personal moments. We get a good deal more of both the Agee and Gates families than one would ever expect they would agree to. There are surprisinglyly unflattering portraits of people like Gene Pingatore, the St. Joseph's basketball coach, and recruiters from schools like Marquette.
You do not have to be a basketball fan to find this a remarkable documentary about much more in American life than basketball. I myself have no interest in the game and I give the film a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mark.leeper@att.com
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