Watching it reminded me that two of my top ten films are about sport. Good sports films are rare but these two are beauties, one documentary and one fictional.
Hoop Dreams is an epic. Ostensibly a documentary about the ambitions of two high school basketball players, it is in fact no less than a gigantic interrogation of the American dream. This is a bizarre comparison to make on the face of it but in its intensity and scepticism it reminds of nothing so much as Godfather Part II. I love this film.
There are chick flicks and there are bloke films. Bull Durham is an incorrigible bloke film. No film has ever better explained why men play sport. It's not about the money stupid. It's the bloke stuff that really matters. Kevin Costner may very well be a bit of a dick in real life, but you cannot watch this film and tell me he's not cool. Any more than you can watch it and tell me Susan Sarandon isn't sexy.
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