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William Gates, Arthur Agee, Emma Gates, Sheila Agee, Earl Smith ... see more see more... , Gene Pingatore , Isiah Thomas , Dick Vitale , Kevin J. O'Neill , Bobby Knight , Spike Lee , Aretha Mitchell , Arthur 'Bo' Agee , Bill Gleason , Curtis Gates , Luther Bedford , Marjorie Heard , Patricia Weir , Sister Marlyn Hopewell

This documentary about the aspirations of high-school basketball players from inner city Chicago won awards from the Sundance film festival, the New York Film Critics Circle, and the Academy Award (Os... read more read more...car) for best editing. Two young men are followed during their entire high-school career, beginning with their participation in playground games and ending with their being recruited by colleges. The obstacles these young men face include parental drug addiction, family poverty, and inner-city violence, as well as the usual obstacles that arise in competition, including physical injuries. While each aspires to leave the ghetto, there are many reasons to suppose they may not be able to, despite each beating the odds against them by winning college scholarships. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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92% liked it

10,260 ratings

Critics

98% liked it

48 critics

PG-13, 2 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: Steve James

Release Date: October 14, 1994

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DVD Release Date: May 9, 2000

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Stats: 884 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (884)

  • fb619846742
    March 14, 2012
    fb619846742
    The best documentary ever made concerning two young boys in Chicago who dream of becoming pro basketball players some day, and how their lives intertwine and how each faces disappointment and life-altering decisions as they get older. Director Steve James has crafted a three-hour... read more epic that blows by at a lightning speed pace, all while exploring every facet of these boys lives. Even more tragic is that fact that some of the family members in the movie have been murdered in street-related violence since this film was made. It is hands down one of the most depressing films I have seen, but one of the best in terms of detailing race, class, education, and the crazy expectations we put on phenoms from Day 1. Even if you do not like basketball, the film serves more of a microcosm of late 80's/early 90's culture in the city and how important the sport of basketball is, and how more important life and getting an education is in the end.
  • fb1664868775
    October 30, 2011
    fb1664868775
    A documentary that is about much more than basketball, this is filmmaking at it's finest.
  • rjayhutchinson
    January 15, 2011
    rjayhutchinson
    This film isn't really about "Hoop Dreams." It's about two teenagers growing up in urban Chicago facing a plethora of life challenges, one of which happens to be basketball. As we follow Agee and Gates through their high school years, we see them mature mentally and psychological... read morely as they struggle through difficulties, from a father who can't seem to act like an adult to trying to get a high enough ACT score to obtain a scholarship.

    The most striking thing about the film is that for tens of minutes at a time, you forget that you're watching a documentary, and it feels like not much more than another urban-kid-overcomes-life's-challenges film. That's not a good thing. The filmmakers have failed to continually remind the viewer that this is not a fictional film, resulting, at times, in an all-too-familiar plot structure.

    The film's moments of brilliance, though, come when the viewer is abruptly reminded that this film isn't fake at all. A scene toward the end of the film features an 18-year-old Agee playing a game of street basketball with his father, who for much of the film refuses to act his age. Sure enough, when Agee easily handles his aged, trash-talking father, his father dons an unsportsmanlike attitude fit for an eighth grader. No writer could ever write a scene like that, no director could ever create the realism of the scene, and most notably, no actor could ever imitate the immaturity shown by this middle-aged man

    It's a quality documentary, but the story it has to tell is, in many regards, unremarkable considering the many fictional films out there that tell a nearly identical story to this one.
  • StarCrossedVoyager
    October 3, 2009
    StarCrossedVoyager
    I really enjoyed the story of this and liked how it followed the boys through a number of years through good and bad times. It showed how city kids only have one chance of getting out of poverty and that's by having a sporting talent which many children don't. The tough world of ... read morescholarships and the struggles faced by kids in need. I'm not a keen basketball player and I don't know much about the American school system so it was a bit confusing at times.
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    February 8, 2008
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    Best documentary ever made.
  • tsigur
    October 15, 2007
    tsigur
    The BEST basketball movie ever made.
  • DrZeek
    July 19, 2007
    DrZeek
    William Gates: People always say to me, "when you get to the NBA, don't forget about me." Well, I should've said back, "if I don't make it to the NBA, don't you forget about me."

    Easily one of the best documentaries that I have seen.

    This is a documentary about two inner city k... read moreids making their way through school, playing basketball, hoping to get recruited into a good college, and eventually make their way into the pros.

    There is easily enough material just to show one of these kids, but this movie has two, and it is three hours of time, culled from more than 250 hours of footage.

    We see these kids from when they are 12-13 all the way to when they are 18-19. We see them recruited into high school, What happens to them, what happens to their families, injuries, grades in school, college plans, various games and championships, other parts of their lives.

    It is an absorbing work that has as much drama, tension, and plot dynamics as a regular movie.
  • lesleyanorton
    September 6, 2009
    lesleyanorton
    Absorbing three-hour (never thought I'd write those two things in the same sentence) documentary about two teenagers & their hopes of becoming basketball champions. And you can look at Wikipedia to find out what happens next :-)
  • thirdway821
    January 5, 2012
    thirdway821
    "Hoop Dreams" is the greatest documentary film I have ever seen and the best of all time. The film is captivating, heartbreaking, exciting, powerful and most of all very moving. I was not only fascinated with Arthur Agee and William Gates but also with their families particularly... read more Arthur's mother Sheila who is just as important as her son. There is a scene where she makes a hammerblow of a change in her life that that I've found so brilliant and so captivating, viewers will weep with real empathy and fascination. It is the best scene in the whole entire picture.

    "Hoop Dreams" tells a lot more then just basketball but about real life. The film closely follows the two men's struggles and successes, their family's struggles and the passionate dedication these two men and their families go through. A film this good hits the heart and boy did this picture ever touched me more ways then one. I will never forget the experience after watching this masterpiece. Everyone especially filmgoers should go see this film immediately. You will absolutely not be disappointed.
  • mattsigur1
    November 29, 2008
    mattsigur1
    Tim, you were right, I didn't notice the length at all. This is an engrossing film with brilliant pacing. I'd love to see a follow-up, a where are they now type thing.

View All Hoop Dreams Reviews

Critic Reviews

Richard Corliss
August 3, 2008
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

It's about three hours long. But it moves like Isiah, fast and smooth, and it's over in a heartbreak. Full Review

David Ansen
March 31, 2008
David Ansen, Newsweek

Hoop Dreams has shown us that the rules of the game are stacked against kids like Gates and Agee. Even better, it shows us how they fight back, with the inside moves of hope. Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
March 21, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

A heady dose of the American dream and the American nightmare combined -- a numbing investigation of how one point on an exam or one basket or turnover in a game can make all the difference in a famil... Full Review

Todd McCarthy
March 21, 2007
Todd McCarthy, Variety

A prodigious achievement that conveys the fabric of modern American life, aspirations and incidentally, sports, in close-up and at length, Hoop Dreams is a documentary slam dunk. Full Review

Douglas Pratt
June 8, 2005
Douglas Pratt, Hollywood Reporter

An ironic drama so beautifully sculpted it could be transposed without alteration into a fictional film.

Caryn James
May 20, 2003
Caryn James, New York Times

The film's great achievement is to reveal the relentless way in which coaches and recruiters refuse to see Arthur and William as anything other than social cliches. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Along the way it becomes a revealing and heartbreaking story about life in America. Full Review

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

The most powerful movie about sports ever made. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

An extraordinarily affecting documentary. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

This picture has a legitimate dramatic structure that is equally as compelling as a scripted slice of fiction. Full Review

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