I was about halfway through this film when I realized that these people were looking into the lens of a camera . I know that there was a little mugging at times and little signs of embarrassment that gave one the sense that the camera was there, but for the nearly three hours (there must have been so much more footage) these young people led their lives for us to see. This is the story of two young men who have grown up in the projects on the South Side of Chicago. Each is quite a basketball star and they have the dream of someday playing in the NBA. Their families are poor and in some cases, unstable. The kids are stars in their own high schools, but do have some issues with attitude and commitment. Having come off the playground and then getting all this attention does work against them. They are both sent to a school, St. Joseph's, in suburban Chicago, that produced Isiah Thomas. It is a school that has been incredibly successful, with an incredibly intense Coach who looks a little like a cross between Joe Paterno and Alfred Molina. He rants and intimidates and doesn't seem to individualize much. One of the young men doesn't have the financial wherewithal or the more observable talent and has to leave, returning to his old school. It is implied that The second is a more mature player but when a knee injury enters the picture, he begins to lose his confidence and doesn't reach the level of performance that he had hoped. This is a cutthroat business which is made obvious. St. Joseph won't even release the boy's transcripts until he pays up. His parents have to get on a payment plan and then it takes time. This is important because in order to get any kind of a scholarship or to even enter another school, he needs these to graduate. Basketball is everything. I won't go into all the details. Those before me have done that. I want to compliment the effort and time that went into this presentation. We see so much of the humanity of a culture so different from most of ours. The filmmakers and the participants have put their hearts and souls for us to see. It's not always pretty, but they were willing to give that much of themselves. See this. It took me over twenty years to check it out. I am in awe.
Review of Hoop Dreams
