Hoop Dreams

Rating:
Summary: Shining example of the power of film
Review: "Hoop Dreams" is perhaps one of the finest examples of the power of film making. Light-years beyond a "basketball movie", this documentary has caught the essence of the American Dream unlike anything else I have ever seen before. Here is an utterly real look at the struggle of the human spirit and all that accompanies it - the hopes and dreams, the failures and despair, the victories and defeats, the pain, the struggle, and the love and jubilation that is life. If you have ever wondered "what's it all about?", well, the answer lies somewhere within this film. "Hoop Dreams" is one of the most enriching films you will ever see.

Rating:
Summary: `Hoops' a Dream to intake
Review: "Hoop Dreams", one of the finest documentaries ever produced is a sometimes heartbreaking journey through four years of two boys high school lives. Arthur Agee and William Gates are two African American boys whose only dream is to play basketball in the NBA like Isiah Thomas or MJ. Through sorrow and joy we follow Arthur and William through there lives, and a wonderful story is told. You barely notice that the film runs three hours, and the basketball scenes are exciting as the real-life family troubles the boys face. See this film at any cost!

Rating:
Summary: For everyone, not just basketball fans
Review: Hoop Dreams is more than a documentary about two inner-city teens hoping to make it to the NBA, it's a brilliant, true-life tale of the American Dream told from a different context and point of view. I watched this because I saw that Roger Ebert had voted it as the best movie of the 1990's. I was skeptical at first (partly because I don't follow basketball), but when it was over I realized that it really was a great movie. Don't miss it!

Rating:
Summary: very tight Documentary
Review: I went to see this Film at the Movies&it was very moving.it showed two Cats who were going for the Gold&leaving nothing for chance. this is a documentary that shows about How hard Cats work at doing what they want to do.still a very Moving Picture.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest
Review: In my opinion, being a big fan of the genre, Hoop Dreams stands as one of the greatest nonfiction works of film, most probably the most important movie of any genre made in the last 35 years and a serious contender for the somewhat silly "greatest movie of all time" credential, comparing favorably with such cultural fixtures as Citizen Kane. I'm not a sport fan whatsoever, I dont know anything about basketball, and my life has been about as different from the two kids in the film as possible. When I first saw this movie about ten years ago I was bracing myself for some blaxploitation movie. I have since watched it at least a half a dozen times since, and I never fail to be awed by the incredible scope and pathos of this film. On the surface, the movie is about basketball, poverty, aspiration, frailty, loss, hope, marginalization, ghetto life, and youth. When put together over the most engaging 3 hours I have ever had, the film constructs a monumental testament to the human experience. Brilliant in its themes, virtually flawless in its execution, stunningly humane in its treatment of its subjects, Hoop Dreams is big, important, and excellent. Like other true greats, its greatness is often overstated, but it's the type of movie that if you have half a brain and half a heart, you will be seized by the brilliance dripping from every pixel.

Rating:
Summary: Highs, lows and real struggles of basketball hopefuls
Review: This 1994 award-winning documentary is about William and Arthur, two Chicago African-American teenagers who, in the eighth grade, are recruited to play basketball for a middle-class parochial high school. Both are good at basketball but struggle with their academics. And both dream of playing for the NBA.

The film follows these two boys for a full six years. It also follows their families and we get a glimpse of the challenges of everyday life in the ghetto. These are real people, not actors, and they have to cope with a lot, including Arthur's father drug problem and the economics of living on $268 per month on welfare. Wisely, the camera is never feels intrusive, and I felt I was right there with them, watching them grow, both mentally and physically. There's a lot of struggle, with highs and lows in their personal lives as well as on the basketball courts, and it is always fascinating. The film is almost three hours long but it is so intriguing that I could have watched it for another hour.

This might not be fiction, but the individual stories are filled with drama as it deals with some very sensitive issues of class, race, maturity and hard choices. And the director, Steve James, who wrote the film along with Fredrick Marx, managed to edit it so perfectly, that I was totally unaware of anything else but just being a part of this world for the duration of the film. Highly recommended for everybody. Do see it! It's wonderful!

Rating:
Summary: good, but a bit too long and narrow
Review: This film follows the lives of two inner city kids who aspire to play basketball in the NBA. All of the hopes and dreams of the youngsters and their failures and succeses are monitored. From young kids to young men, the harsh realities of growing up in the inner city are also shown.

The two main things that bother me about this documentary is that it was too long and narrowly focused. Two hours would have been more than sufficient espeicially for only two people. The extra time diminished the value of the film for me. I also think the film is too narrowly focused because there are only two subjects. The director could have selected 5 or maybe 7 subjects from the different cities to give more of a perspective.

I won't spoil the film, but I must say that nothing extrodinary happens. Both subjects seem content (one of them more than the other) with their lots in life however.

For those interested in seeing an excellent documentary series which follows the lives of people very well though different stages of life, see Micheal Apted's "Up" series.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best documentaries I have seen
Review: What makes this documentary so compelling is the growth and maturation in each of the two main characters. We are first introduced to the boys when they are in middle school and see their faraway dreams and smile at their naivete. One is brash, the other reserved. By the end of this film we realize how much the two have grown, how they have been transformed by their actions and the environment. We see their dreams evolve. I read Ebert's review of this after watching the movie. He mentions how well Hoop Dreams captures the "ebb and flow" of life. I completely agree. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Still brings tears to the eyes after 10 years
Review: When this movie first came out 10 years ago, I remembered sitting for several minutes in the theater as the credits were rolling, collecting myself. I never cry in movie theaters. And this movie moved me to bawl like a child. To think about the ups and downs, the raw enthusiasm of the young boys when they first started chasing their hoop dreams, the rough realities that they both faced without consistent fatherhood, without steady incomes, without one advantage in their lives, still brings tears to my eyes. This was a brilliant movie that moved public discourse about the importance of steady parenting, the need for educational and employment opportunities in all corners of America, the costs associated with our obsession for celebrity athletes, and the limitations of athletics as a vehicle for moving young men from poverty to wealth. Because of the openness of the families being documented, and because the film's editors and director were able to cut to the core of human needs and desires, this film broke through cultural barriers, bridged gaps in our understanding of one another, and helped us to understand that every life has value, every person has a story to tell, and every child has the right and the power to dream. It also helps us to understand that it is not always the content of character or talent that enable these children to achieve their dreams. It is also privilege, opportunities, and the right guiding hands. And without these, dreams become melancholy memories of something that could have been, only if...