Blue Chips (1994)

A college basketball coach is forced to break the rules in order to get the players he needs to stay competitive.

Director:

William Friedkin

Writer:

Ron Shelton

Stars:

Nick Nolte, Mary McDonnell, J.T. Walsh

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nick Nolte	...	Pete Bell
Mary McDonnell	...	Jenny Bell
J.T. Walsh	...	Happy
Ed O'Neill	...	Ed
Alfre Woodard	...	Lavada McRae
Bob Cousy	...	Vic
Shaquille O'Neal	...	Neon
Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway	...	Butch McRae
Matt Nover	...	Ricky Roe
Cylk Cozart	...	Slick
Anthony C. Hall	...	Tony
Kevin Benton	...	Jack
Bill Cross	...	Freddie
Marques Johnson	...	Mel
Robert Wuhl	...	Marty

Storyline

Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.

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Plot Keywords:

college | college basketball | basketball | recruitment | basketball movie | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 February 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Basta vincere

Filming Locations:

Frankfort Senior High School - 1 S. Maish Road, Frankfort, Indiana, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$22,355,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the end both Neon and Butch McRae, played respectively by Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway leave school early to play pro ball. In real life both O'Neal and Hardaway left school early and played pro ball; ironically together early in their careers.

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Goofs

After the losing season at the start of the movie, Coach Bell travels to see Butch play a high school game. The college season outlasts the high school season by weeks to months. There is no chance that Butch's team is playing a home game after the college's regular season is over. There is a small chance that the coach could have gone to a State Tournament game to see Butch play, but even those tournaments are over before the college season ends. In addition, most high school players have signed a letter of intent early in their senior year making a recruiting trip in the early spring unrealistic. It is understandable from a pacing perspective why the film was shot this way. The coach has another losing season and decides not to let it happen again and goes after the Blue Chip players to be better next year. In the real world, he would have been making the recruiting trips (or his assistant coaches would have) much earlier, during the season and not after it.

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Quotes

Pete Bell: ...But goddamnit, those kids played out their heart. They gave everything they had! They played up to the *maximum* of their ability! They gave it everything. And you know, it wasn't good enough. It wasn't good enough for me, wasn't good enough for you, wasn't good enough for anybody!

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #26.74 (2009)

User Reviews

My favorite basketball movie ever.

Blue Chips is a great basketball movie. It features great, realistic basketball action filmed at normal speed using low angles so you can't tell they are acting. Nick Nolte is fantastic as Coach Pete Bell with so many great quotes I couldn't list them all here. Directed by William Friedkin, (The Exorcist) Blue Chips really uses it basketball players well. Athletes are probably the worst actors in the world, but in this movie they do most of their acting on the court so it really works. The action is told almost exclusively through Nick Nolte's point of view and his inner conflict with breaking the collegiate rules is stressed heavily. Also features memorable performances by J.T. Walsh as Happy, and cameos by countless college basketball players and coaches and a very entertaining cameo by Larry Bird. I strongly recommend you watch this movie, it's the best basketball movie ever!