Rating: 
Summary: wonderful story
Review: "The Basket" is a beautifully written movie. So deep that it's hard to sum up. It's about basketball. It's about opera. It's about war. It's about orphans and new immigrans. It's about a farmer and his wife coming to terms with the death of their son from the war. It's about a town overcoming their prejudice. It's about a stranger changing a small town.It's about hope. A young German boy is bullied by the town boys and made to feel unwelcome by the town. The boy overcomes by having a goal--not fighting back with evil, but defeating evil with good. I watched it with my 8 year-old nephew and he identified with the boy being bullied. My 12-year old niece came in during the basketball game and quickly got caught up in the story--wanting to know if Brigitta marries the Emery boy.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: A Hallmark type film, written by some wonderful people (I know them). The film has a great story line and a wonderful moral. Good family film. Two thumbs up as far as I'm concerned!!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: Beautiful cinematography.
Wonderful story.
Original opera score.
Fantastic acting.
The best family movie made in 40 years.
Rating: 
Summary: Tolerable but nothing special
Review: For most Spokanites, the fun of seeing familiar surroundings and spotting actors that you might know personally tended to distract them from the content of the film itself. I rented the video hoping that this movie would measure up to all of the publicity it received here in Spokane while it was being filmed. I hoped it would be good; when I finished watching, I was just relieved that it wasn't any worse than it was. It is not a complete waste of time, but I can't say I was left with any deeper insights into the human condition, although I know this movie was trying mighty hard to send a message. I did appreciate the focus on anti-German discrimination during World War I, which is something we tend to forget about. However, most of that discrimination was focused on recent immigrants and naturalized US citizens who were obviously foreign-born. War orphans, I seriously doubt, entered into the mix. Logistically speaking, I cannot figure out how American troops were in a position to be killing German civilians on German soil. Also the story of the discrimination is told in a rather ham-fisted style, as we are beat over the head, again and again, with the fact that the dad hates these orphans because his own son died due to Germans, etc etc etc. How many times do we have to have this illustrated to us? Many scenes seem to be simply repetitive. The subplot, featuring a fictional German opera, also beats you over the head with clumsy, all-too-obvious symbolism. Yes, yes, we all get that the plot of the opera mirrors the events unfolding in the town. The faux-Wagnerian music is almost impossible to bear at times. The ending of the movie was also a bit too corny for my taste. Everything seemed to wrap up a bit too tidily. I suppose you have to make the audience feel good. This wasn't a terrible movie; however, with some changes in the story line and some tighter editing, it could have been a rather moving little movie.
Rating:
Summary: Tolerable but nothing special
Review: For most Spokanites, the fun of seeing familiar surroundings and spotting actors that you might know personally tended to distract them from the content of the film itself. I rented the video hoping that this movie would measure up to all of the publicity it received here in Spokane while it was being filmed. I hoped it would be good; when I finished watching, I was just relieved that it wasn't any worse than it was. It is not a complete waste of time, but I can't say I was left with any deeper insights into the human condition, although I know this movie was trying mighty hard to send a message. I did appreciate the focus on anti-German discrimination during World War I, which is something we tend to forget about. However, most of that discrimination was focused on recent immigrants and naturalized US citizens who were obviously foreign-born. War orphans, I seriously doubt, entered into the mix. Logistically speaking, I cannot figure out how American troops were in a position to be killing German civilians on German soil. Also the story of the discrimination is told in a rather ham-fisted style, as we are beat over the head, again and again, with the fact that the dad hates these orphans because his own son died due to Germans, etc etc etc. How many times do we have to have this illustrated to us? Many scenes seem to be simply repetitive. The subplot, featuring a fictional German opera, also beats you over the head with clumsy, all-too-obvious symbolism. Yes, yes, we all get that the plot of the opera mirrors the events unfolding in the town. The faux-Wagnerian music is almost impossible to bear at times. The ending of the movie was also a bit too corny for my taste. Everything seemed to wrap up a bit too tidily. I suppose you have to make the audience feel good. This wasn't a terrible movie; however, with some changes in the story line and some tighter editing, it could have been a rather moving little movie.
Rating:
Summary: Any Small Rural Town in WWI Era America!
Review: Forgive me to indulge myself with my appreciation for this film and its excellent representation on rural farm life during the WWI era. While the film is about a rural farming community in the Pacific Northwest, because of its brilliantly historical likeness to many small farm communities in this era it is a symbolic story of American farm life in the early 20th Century. The film places itself somewhere in the late summer through early fall of 1918 (before the Influenza outbreaks in October 1918 [for the Pacific Northwest region]) and before the Armistice in November 1918. The central characters are two orphan refugees from Germany who are sent to live with the local preacher/doctor. The townspeople of course didn't wholly welcome their new-orphaned neighbors. The movie plays itself out between the one-room schoolhouse and the farm families and their struggles to cope with social, cultural, and economic strains resulting from the times and the war. The "war to end all wars" was a blessing and a curse to American farmers. This film represents both ends of the spectrum. Sadly, WWI proved more of a curse than a blessing. Farmers, if they planned and timed themselves well, without throwing themselves into debt, could make a substantial amount of money on wheat and other agricultural related products. For most farmers, however, the war brought about extreme labor shortages, increased inflation, increased debt and greater reliance on mortgages. Socially and culturally the war brought about unchecked patriotism that resulted in hostilities towards German Americans and German war refugees, increased censorship and generally, an increased role of the Federal Government. The war took its greatest toll on farm families (and communities) who sent they young "doughboys" to war. If they returned at all, they returned with immense social, mental and physical scaring. In the end, after watching this film, you'll come out of the experience emotionally moved, historically aware and personally enriched.
Rating:
Summary: The Basket
Review: How wonderful to find a qualiy movie which reflects family values, struggles and commitment. Set during World War II, "The Basket's" rich cinematography place the viewer amidst the golden wheatfields of the Palouse. It successfully intertwines the beginnings of basketball with the homeland struggle of a small town which finds itself struggling to survive, struggling to cope with the losses of war and struggling to accept the changes it brings, among them the resettlement of two German orphans. Though not an action-packed thriller, "The Basket" is knitted together by original music; it is a film the entire family can enjoy together. Forgive it's hokey moment and you will be rewarded with a film where good triumphs over evil and love perseveres rather than taking the easy way out.
Rating:
Summary: The Basket
Review: How wonderful to find a qualiy movie which reflects family values, struggles and commitment. Set during World War II, "The Basket's" rich cinematography place the viewer amidst the golden wheatfields of the Palouse. It successfully intertwines the beginnings of basketball with the homeland struggle of a small town which finds itself struggling to survive, struggling to cope with the losses of war and struggling to accept the changes it brings, among them the resettlement of two German orphans. Though not an action-packed thriller, "The Basket" is knitted together by original music; it is a film the entire family can enjoy together. Forgive it's hokey moment and you will be rewarded with a film where good triumphs over evil and love perseveres rather than taking the easy way out.
Rating: 
Summary: Some fine tuning
Review: I came across The Basket in a video store and decided to rent it. This was my first mistake. My second mistake was watching it. I did find amusement in ripping on the characters with a few friends. Seems like the movie could have went through a little more fine tuning before they threw it to the home viewers. Some very nice scenery at times though. It's a one-renter.
Rating:
Summary: Disney and Hallmark Cannot Make a Family Movie This Good!
Review: I can only review what I saw in the movie theater last year. The VHS and DVD are not available to the public yet (today is 11/1/01). Anyone here who claims to rate the DVD obviously has a beef with the producers or something. The simple fact is "The Basket" won every top family entertainment awards and also beat-out the best Hollywood could offer. It is Dove Foundation Approved for Family Viewing. "The Basket" tells a great story set in the Pacific Northwest in 1918 during WWI. It combines an Original German Opera with the invention of a new game called 'Basket Ball.' Its a drama about team-work and a community coming together during tough times. Opera fans, sports fans, Peter Coyote fans, Karen Allen fans, 'Why-Can't-Hollywood-Make-Good-Movies-Anymore' fans have alot to love about this movie. Thanks, "BetterNot"
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