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Movies / On DVD / Hoop Dreams
Hoop Dreams

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Hoop Dreams (1994)

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Reviews Counted:43

Fresh:42

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.5/10

Consensus: One of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of all time, Hoop Dreams is a rich, complex, heartbreaking, and ultimately deeply rewarding film that uses high school hoops as a jumping-off point to explore issues of race, class, and education in modern America.

Runtime: 2 hrs 56 mins

Genre: Sports/Recreation

Synopsis: One of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of all-time, HOOP DREAMS has become a model for how to construct a fact-based film, creating intimate and emotionally resonant portraits of its... One of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of all-time, HOOP DREAMS has become a model for how to construct a fact-based film, creating intimate and emotionally resonant portraits of its subjects while exploring the larger social issues that those subjects are negotiating with. The film focuses on William Gates and Arthur Agee, two teenagers from inner-city Chicago, and follows them for almost five years, the period where both enter and complete their high school careers. Both young men are talented basketball players, and as the title suggests, have their eyes on the college game and eventually the NBA as their best shot at escaping the poverty they grew up in. But as William and Arthur reach for their goal, they must contend with the pressing issues and difficulties of social class and racism, as well as the predatory practices of the basketball recruiters who entice the pair to attend their schools. In this way, HOOP DREAMS chronicles much more than just the individual experiences of two young men. It examines the larger problems that beset inner-city African-American families and how they cope with those difficulties through family support and friendship, as well as presenting a picture of the increasingly ruthless, big-business tactics of college and even high school sports. It remains a seminal documentary film, both affecting and thought provoking in its story of lives and dreams entangled by forces beyond their control. [More]

Director: Steve James

Director: Steve James

Reviews for Hoop Dreams

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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The result not only follows the lives of the boys as they mature into men, suffering success and disaster along the way, but also provides a picture of tough inner-city life shorn of glamour or unnecessary melodrama.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
03/24/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This is the best type of documentary, giving an intensely personal story you can’t help but become involved in, and also raises fundamental issues about America in the 90s.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Unforgettable.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's about three hours long. But it moves like Isiah, fast and smooth, and it's over in a heartbreak.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
08/03/08
Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Hoop Dreams has shown us that the rules of the game are stacked against kids like Gates and Agee. Even better, it shows us how they fight back, with the inside moves of hope.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
03/31/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek

Ao acompanharem seis anos das vidas de sua dupla de protagonistas, James e sua equipe criaram um filme revelador, complexo e, acima de tudo, profundamente tocante.

comment Comment
02/09/08
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

No review available.

comment Comment
10/13/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

It's the closest movie equivalent to the great American novel I've seen in years.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/24/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

A heady dose of the American dream and the American nightmare combined -- a numbing investigation of how one point on an exam or one basket or turnover in a game can make all the difference in a family's fortunes.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/21/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

A prodigious achievement that conveys the fabric of modern American life, aspirations and incidentally, sports, in close-up and at length, Hoop Dreams is a documentary slam dunk.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/21/07
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Boasting an epic scale, and a running time to match, this seminal docu, an absorbing anatomy of the American Dream in Chicago's inner-city, has more passion, compassion and suspense than most Hollywood fictional stories.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
07/24/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Stunning documentary which should have won an Oscar.

comment Comment
04/13/06
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com

No review available.

comment Comment
09/27/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

An ironic drama so beautifully sculpted it could be transposed without alteration into a fictional film.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
06/08/05
Douglas Pratt
Douglas Pratt
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This extraordinary movie shattered the illusion, once and for all, that factual films can't be as entertaining as fictional ones.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
05/26/05
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

No review available.

comment Comment
12/15/04
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
06/04/04
Sarah Chauncey
Sarah Chauncey
Reel.com

No review available.

comment 4 Comments
02/22/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
12/10/03
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

No review available.

comment Comment
12/01/03
Brian Gibson
Brian Gibson
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for Hoop Dreams

April 10, 2007: Play Ball With RT's Top Sports Movies Countdown!
It's spring again, and we all know what that means: The NBA and NHL are getting down to the wire, P.A. announcers across the land have dusted off their copies of John Fogerty's... More...

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