Reviews

I have watched this movie several times and I always come away with a smile on my face. This movie is a great example, of what some college and high school coaches go through today. College coaches often take a year or two to implement their system and style of coaching. It oftentimes does not lead to wins right away, but building a winning culture takes time and this was on display in the movie. Gene hackman was sensational and really captured the adversity his character went through as the head coach of Hickory. The whole town was against his vision for the game and how he wanted the team to play. Even his team did not buy in until their best player returned to the team. This is another example of an excellent underdog story based on true events. While this movie does not have the fanfare of other excellent sports movies such as Remember the Titans, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Rocky, or Rudy, it deserves it. All of the movies listed above I have seen and I loved all of them, but there is something about Hoosiers that resonated with me on a personal level. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who has not seen it and this movie is truly an inspiration to underdogs everywhere that anything is possible.

When I was a freshman in high school, this story took over the news for months and I remember this case vividly. While I did not remember the initial ruling, I assumed he would be guilty. I learned a great amount about Oscar Pistorius, the history of violence against women in South Africa, and the warning signs that eventually led to the tragic murder. For a documentary of this nature going back to the beginning and looking at the buildup to the trial is important for context and perspective, but none the less the production team needed to give more footage in the moment. I felt that the documentary was more focused on his athletic accomplishments, overcoming adversity, and the many relationships he had throughout his life. While these points are part of his life it overshadowed the most important part of the documentary in the trial. From a production standpoint, many of his life events could have been skipped over or condensed. For example, his childhood and teenage years took up too much time rather than focusing more on his violent tendencies and personality. Those things were talked about, but not as in depth as it should have been. It felt like the trial part of the documentary was more about footage of international news reporters giving updates before, during and after the trial rather than the actual trial itself.