A film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.
Director:
Steve James
From metacritic.com
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Title: Hoop Dreams (1994)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| William Gates | ... | Self | |
| Arthur Agee | ... | Self | |
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Emma Gates | ... | Self - William's Mother |
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Curtis Gates | ... | Self - William's Brother |
| Sheila Agee | ... | Self - Arthur's Mother | |
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Arthur 'Bo' Agee | ... | Self - Arthur's Father |
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Earl Smith | ... | Self - Talent Scout |
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Gene Pingatore | ... | Self - High School Basketball Coach |
| Isiah Thomas | ... | Self - Professional Basketball Player | |
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Marlyn Hopewell | ... | Self - High School Guidance Counselor (as Sister Marlyn Hopewell) |
| Bill Gleason | ... | Self - Television Reporter | |
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Patricia Weir | ... | Self - President: Encyclopedia Brittanica |
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Marjorie Heard | ... | Self - High School Guidance Counselor |
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Luther Bedford | ... | Self - High School Basketball Coach |
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Aretha Mitchell | ... | Self - High School Guidance Counselor |
This documentary follows two young African-Americans through their high school years as they perfect their skills in basketball in the hopes of getting a college scholarship and eventually play in the NBA. Arthur Agee and William Gates both show great potential and are are actively recruited as they look to enter high school. They start off at the same high school but unable to pay an unexpected bill for tuition fees, Arthur has to withdraw and go to the local public high school. The film follows them through their four years of high school and their trials and tribulations: injuries, slumps and the never ending battle to maintain their grades. Through it all, their hoop dreams continue. Written by garykmcd
"Hoop Dreams" is one of the finest films I ever seen. It is easily the best documentary subject ever put on celluloid and it is a blueprint to all film-makers (especially those trying to break into the industry). It is late-1980s inner-city Chicago and two youngsters (Arthur Agee and William Gates) are preparing for their high school careers. Neither know one another, but they soon become linked in the fact that they are both recruited to go to the prep school that then-NBA superstar Isiah Thomas (a hero to both) attended. We then follow the two over a course of five years as they try to make their dreams of basketball super-stardom come true. "Hoop Dreams" is a definitive example of a true documentary (something that most never do understand the concept of). It is a film that took years and years to make. It told a story that most of mainstream America did not understand or even know about. It relied on lots of planning and lots of luck to all come together. This was a labor of love and desire for the film-makers involved (most notably director/co-writer/co-editor Steve James). "Hoop Dreams" is the cinema in its rawest and most untamed form. It is not a film that was developed for profit, awards or recognition from others in the entertainment community. It is a film that was made to educate people and tell a story that could not have been conveyed by any other form of mass communication. An Oscar-nominee for its mind-numbingly difficult editing in 1994. 5 stars out of 5.