Fast Break (1979)

David Greene is a New York basketball enthusiast, who wants to coach. He is then offered the coaching job at a small Nevada college. He brings along some players, who are a bit odd but good... See full summary »

Director:

Jack Smight

Writers:

Sandor Stern (screenplay), Marc Kaplan (story)

Stars:

Gabe Kaplan, Harold Sylvester, Michael Warren

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gabe Kaplan	...	David Greene (as Gabriel Kaplan)
Harold Sylvester	...	D.C.
Michael Warren	...	Tommy 'Preacher' White
Bernard King	...	Hustler
Reb Brown	...	Bull
Mavis Washington	...	Swish
Bert Remsen	...	Bo Winnegar
Randee Heller	...	Jan
Connie Sawyer	...	Mom
John Chappell	...	Alton Gutkas
Rhonda Bates	...	Enid Gutkas
K Callan	...	Ms. Tidwell
Marty Zagon	...	Henry
Richard Brestoff	...	Howard
Doria Cook-Nelson	...	Snooty Girl (as Doria Cook)

Storyline

David Greene is a New York basketball enthusiast, who wants to coach. He is then offered the coaching job at a small Nevada college. He brings along some players, who are a bit odd but good. Like Swish who unknown to the rest of the team is a girl. Preacher, who's being sought by some nefarious characters. And D.C., who's a fugitive. And along with some of the students at the college, he turns them into a contender. In order to give the team the respect they deserve and some exposure, Greene schemes to try and get the number 1 team led by Bo Winnegar, to play them. Brian liked to dish to Bob for the easy layup. Kev stole the ball and fed Mel on a breakaway. Reg would guard the paint.

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Plot Keywords:

basketball | 1970s | pool hall | apartment | diner | 

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Taglines:

The Best Guy On The Team Is A Girl!

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Genres:

Comedy | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

In his 2009 non-fiction tome "The Book of Basketball", Bill Simmons discusses NBA superstar Bernard King's performance in this film. Simmons added in a footnote that when he talked to Gabe Kaplan about the film, "Kaplan said they had 60 days of filming and Bernard gave them 58 good ones. He didn't elaborate."

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Quotes

[Coach Greene has asked his team manager Howard to find some leverage to induce Bo Winnegar, coach of the top-ten ranked Nevada State basketball team, to play a game against his unknown Cadwallader University squad]
David Greene: Howard, we got their attention! What have you got for me?
[Receives a dossier in a manila folder]
David Greene: Very professional; what, kind of a project?
Howard: Coach, the man is as pure as Ivory snow! I checked him out from the time he was born, I tailed him for a week, I put a bug on his telephone...
David Greene: ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

CBS edited 21 minutes from this film for its 1980 network television premiere.

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Connections

Featured in Disclosure (2020)

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Soundtracks

More Than Just a Friend
(uncredited)
Music by David Shire
Lyrics by Carol Connors
Performed by Billy Preston

User Reviews

eh.

Not great, not bad, this film from the disco era has not aged well but still contains some amusing moments. (Is it me, or does film and TV from the late 70s seems so much older and dated than from any other time period in the post-WWII era?)

But the thought that kept entering my head as I watched Gabe Kaplan smirk and wink-wink through his performance was that 10 years later, Billy Crystal could have done this movie is his sleep... and done it better.

6 out of 10 stars: perfect during a snooze on a lazy rainy afternoon...

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

October 1983 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Fast Break

Filming Locations:

St. Moritz Hotel 50 Central Park South New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kings Road Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1