This week’s film is Hoosiers: 1986, 1hr 54min, R.T. 92%, on Amazon and others. Watch beforehand and join for a lively conversation!

Celebrating Gene Hackman, here’s a traditional high-school sports drama from the 1980s. Failed college coach Gene Hackman is hired to coach a small Indiana basketball team. Like most outsiders in a small Indiana town, no one likes him. He has to earn the trust of the town, his players, himself. Does he succeed? It’s a great, quiet, well-done story based on a true story from the 1950s. Dennis Hopper got his only acting Oscar nomination for the film as the recovering alcoholic assistant coach. Also with Barbara Hershey. Roger Ebert gave it 4 stars.