Sundance pick: The Winning Season
January 23, 2009 by jane
Filed under Basketball, DVD, Film, Student-Athlete, Youth Athletics
The Sundance Film Festival, which takes place each January in Park City, Utah, is wrapping up this weekend. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S and renown for launching the careers of actors and directors who make films outside of the mainstream studio system.
One film of note this year is The Winning Season, a sports pic acquired by Lionsgate. James Strouse’s film stars Sam Rockwell as the coach of a women’s high school basketball team on which his daughter (Emma Roberts) also plays.
From the Sundance Film Guide:
Sam Rockwell stars as an alcoholic ex-basketball star who is currently occupied busing tables. When he is handed the reins of a girl’s varsity team by the school’s principal, what ensues is tempestuous and trying for all concerned.
The battles to be won or lost—of a coach and his team, of a father and a daughter, and of a man struggling with his demons-are complicated by the mundane, yet real, dilemmas of life. This seemingly ordinary basketball drama resonates with wit and truth, attitude and sharp dialogue, and perfectly toned performances. Rockwell is spot on with his depiction of the scruffy, conflicted coach/father/teacher, and [director] Strouse’s work is full of humor and poignancy, insight and fun.
Rockwell has described the movie as Bad News Bears meets Half Nelson meets Hoosiers. Look for it in theatres later this year.
