Hoop Dreams (1994)

Hoop Dreams was intended to be a 30-minute PBS special. Eight years later, it emerged as a sprawling, three-hour documentary that Roger Ebert called the best film of the 1990s. I won’t make that bold a proclamation, but I can definitively say that Hoop Dreams is easily the best documentary I’ve ever seen. It asks a simple question and elicits complex, vague, and often unsatisfying answers; it spans five years of filming and incorporates hundreds of hours of raw footage; it provides a clear window into inner city life, youth basketball subcultures, and the early 90s with a story that tells itself. Imagine, all of this, hidden in the 'Sports & Fitness' section.

The movie follows inner city youths William Gates and Arthur Agee as they chase NBA aspirations. They take similar but divergent paths, as promising high school careers become complicated with factors like academics, injury, family, and poverty. The film is intensely personal, going into the kids’ homes and schools and out to the playground courts. We literally watch them grow up on the court as well, as extensive real game film accompanies the personal treatment.

Hoop Dreams is also visually striking, and by that I mean it looks like the early 90s, and by that, I mean people wore some crazy clothes. Those bright, random, pre-ironic, early 90s Nike clothes are the stuff of hipster dreams. Kids rocked fades and Jordans, and the adults, at least according to the film, all wore glasses with comically big lenses.

The movie clocks in at just under three hours, so it’s a bit of a marathon. If you aren’t willing to commit those hours, you could break it up into thirds and watch it like a miniseries. Either way, you should watch it, at least once. It’s probably one of the best movies you’ve never heard of.

Addendum:

If my pseudonym didn’t tip you off, I’m a basketball fan, and from that perspective, the movie does not disappoint. The footage, on the playground and in-game, is well done and fun to watch. For other hoops junkies and Blazer fans everywhere, Juwan Howard makes an appearance an hour and twenty five minutes in. Jalen Rose also makes a quick cameo. Another nuance to the 'what-might've-been' thing.