The World Needs More Ninjas

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.”

That quote comes from high school basketball phenom William Gates in Hoop Dreams. This is one of those movies I’ve been meaning to watch for year and finally got around to doing it. It’s a documentary that follows Gates and Arthur Agee through their entire high school careers in Chicago as highly touted basketball recruits.

It goes much deeper than the sport as it follows their families as well…both being from the inner-city where basketball seems to be viewed as the only ticket to a better life. The fact that it’s all real-life makes the film very moving. When Agee’s family gets their power shut off or Arthur gives a crying William a hug after a particularly tough loss, you know it’s not just something out of some screen writer’s imagination.

Hoop Dreams is much better than most all other sports movies. Think something like Friday Night Lights, but about ten times as good (in fairness to Friday Night Lights, the book was much better than the movie). In real-life, you don’t always get the fairy book ending with a chance at the championship, but you do get a moving story.

One thing this movie makes you appreciate is editing. Even though, it’s almost three hours long, the film moves at a great pace and keeps your interest the entire time. There’s no telling how many hours of film the makers had to go over to put this together, but they did an amazing job.

This is really a movie that transcends film. One of the best movies I’ve ever seen…so it’s gotta get as close to perfect as I’ll ever give. If you’ve never seen Hoop Dreams, go rent it and you won’t be disappointed.

My Score: 99%
Tomatometer: 97%