#145: Hoop Dreams
Part of the Top 150 films series
Like the majority of great nearly three hour-long films, Hoop Dreams has an all-encompassing, enveloping quality that quietly lures you in, and slam dunks devastation straight into you. Scenes of basketball games, parent-teacher meetings, college applications take on Shakespearean weight as we gradually get drawn into the lives of Arthur Agee and William Gates, as they follow their dreams of becoming basketball superstars. Hoop Dreams is a scathing social commentary about the lack of opportunities available to African-Americans in Chicago, a revealing look at how money talks through all levels of education and sports, and a tender portrait of two families and their attempts to stay together in immensely difficult situations whilst enabling the protagonists to leave and become stars. Edited flawlessly to distill eight years of trials, tribulations and timeouts into a highly watchable package, Hoop Dreams consistently stands at the three-point line of documentary excellence and always scores.
