Hoosiers, Film Analysis

Hoosiers Film Analysis

Why I selected Hoosiers

Let me first begin by saying I am a huge sports fan. I played almost every sport growing up and have always loved watching sports, in particular college basketball and any type of football. I saw Hoosiers a few times growing up and enjoyed it every time. In my opinion it is one of the greatest sports movies of all time. The acting of Gene Hackman is definitely an Oscar winning performance. Even though this is not based on a true story it is very believable to me that this event could have occurred, and for that reason it enhances the emotion I feel when they fight through diversity and win the state championship. All of the above are the reasons I chose this film, I knew I would enjoy it and enjoy writing about it.

General Synopsis of Film

Hoosiers is based out of a small town in Indiana, 1951. A washed up old college basketball coach (Norman Dale) is asked by a good friend to come coach his schools basketball team, the Hickory Huskers. The team had just lost their coach the previous year and along with it their star basketball player, Jimmy Chipwood. Jimmy decided not to play after the coach died, and without him the team would struggle to have a successful season. Neither the team nor the community took very warmly to Coach Dale's entrance into their tight nit community and the approach he took on the game of basketball. The players and community men had a hard time at first believing in his fundamental philosophy and his leadership style over the team.

As the film moves on we see a turning pint for Coach Dale. After an unsuccessful first part of the season, there is a community wide petition being passed around with a referendum to remove him as coach. At this meeting it was almost certain that the coach would be fired until Jimmy showed up. Jimmy gave the community an ultimatum "I play coach stays, coach goes I go," and ultimately the coach was voted to stay. From there the team started to gel and both the players and the community started to believe in the coach. The team goes on to make the playoffs and eventually win states and be the Cinderella story, a small town school goes up against the big boys to win the Indiana state basketball championship, a David vs. Goliath story. I believe perseverance and desire, desire to not give up and that nothing is impossible is the intended message the movie is trying to get across. A coach persevering with the whole community and his players, and the players and coach having the desire to believe they can win and that they belong.

The Major Characters

The biggest character in the movie was played by Gene Hackman as Coach Norman Dale. Norm was an old college basketball coach who returned to coaching after twelve years to coach at a small High School in Indiana. The next major character was Myra Fleener, a fellow school teacher that looked after Jimmy and did not treat Norm very well at first. She eventually respects him and believes in the coach and they form a relationship. The third major character in the movie was Shooter, a drunk father to one of the players. Norm took him under his wing and built up his confidence and helped him to get sober. The fourth major character in this movie I felt was Jimmy Chipwood. Yeah, he didn't say much throughout the movie, but he was a major theme in the movie and was seen throughout it. Jimmy was the star player who decided not to play at first but eventually did and was the reason why the team won. The final character in the movie was actually a group of individuals in my opinion, the other members of the basketball team. Together they played one common role to learn to change their attitude and grow with the coach.

The Major Conflicts between Characters

The first major conflict was depicted between Coach Norman Dale and Myra Fleener. Myra was very cold to Coach Dale, the new basketball coach, when he first arrived. She advised him to stay away from Jimmy and felt he ended up there for a reason other than coaching. He was either running away from something or had no where else to go. For Jimmy, she didn't believe basketball was the way out of this small town, a good education was, and she didn't want Norm keeping him from that. Coach Dale restrained form retaliating at this criticism and actually accommodated Myra by granting her wishes and not trying to persuade Jimmy into playing. I think it was his philosophy all along, regardless if she said anything about Jimmy, he felt no individual was greater than the whole.

The second major conflict I noticed happened between Coach Dale and the community, in particular George. The community expressed how they didn't like change much and had a belief in how the team should practice and be taught. When it didn't show out on the court they verbally expressed their dissatisfaction, and even went as far as putting together a petition to oust the coach. To this the Coach Dale held firm, he didn't burst out in aggression nor did he plea with the community. He just went to the meeting, said what he believed and then let the community decide.

With George, it was a little more personal. George was the interim coach until Coach Dale arrived and had a routine for the players that they conducted every practice. When Coach Dale challenged that routine and told George to leave, George retaliated by stating "changing a routine might get the boys all confused," as well as threatening the Coach. The Coach did not take too lightly to this threat and actually challenged George on the threat. Coach Dale believed in his philosophy on teaching basketball and wasn't going to let some community member change that.

The final conflict I am going to discuss is the one between Coach Dale and his players. The players were used to a certain way of being taught and being treated, with a lot more playing and a lot less fundamentals and strict rules. When Coach Dale showed up and tried to change that there was restraint with some of the players. Two left as the first practice started and one wanted to follow his own rules by not passing and speaking out of place. This was the biggest conflict of all to overcome because without these players the coach could not succeed.

How were Metaphors Used?

Throughout the movie I found seven metaphors that were used by individuals to intimidate, defend, or amuse. The first one I noticed took place on the first day of practice when Holly said "I feel like I'm