SUNSET PARK
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1996 Ben Hoffman
This has been a bad week for basketball films. A few days ago I saw CELTIC PRIDE, which was quite bad (1 byte), and two days later there's another silly one about a coach who knows nothing about basketball.
SUNSET PARK is a high school with a basketball team but no coach. Just as happens frequently in our schools, a phys ed instructor will be delegated to teach math if there is a need for a math teacher. The new coach, Phylllis Saroka (Rhea Perlman, the little but feisty waitress on TV's CHEERS) is the teacher chosen to coach the team. Not having the slightest idea about basketball, let alone coaching, she gets a book to learn everything there is to know (it says here), The Beginner's Book of Coaching Basketball. That pretty much tells you where this film is headed. It also tells you that the players are not going to pay any heed to their new, shorty of a coach., an ugh, WOMAN.
Of course, they have not reckoned with Phyllis' character which is to be the best in anything she does and is determined to make this team the best in the league.
Aside from the unlikelihood of a pint-sized woman running a team, the film has other faults. For one thing, it does not look as if the team's players are really playing basketball or are just actors going through the motions which is how it appeared to me.
Filled with honorable intentions, the film falls far short of its goals. Even Rhea Perlman, a fine performer on TV and the screen, falls short. The "plot" is too weak to be overcome by anyone. Still, just for seeing Perlman do her stuff, the film may be worth seeing.
Directed by Steve Gomer.
Rating: 1.5 bytes
4 Bytes = Superb 3 Bytes = Too good to miss 2 Bytes = Average 1 Byte = Save your money
Ben Hoffman
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