Blue Chips
videos, movies reviews
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List Price: $9.95
Features
• Closed-captioned
• Color
• NTSC
In Theaters : 18 February, 1994
Video Release : 04 March, 1997 |
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Blue Chips Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
Again, Nolte Lives the Role
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There's one thing that puts Blue Chips one star above my usual 2-star rating for a guilty pleasure -- Nick Nolte! He absolutely rises above what is a disappointingly predictable script by Ron Shelton (Bull Durham) with mostly pedestrian direction by William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist).
The explosive, and ultimately comical opening scene in the locker room sets the stage for Coach Pete Bell's competitive demons to vie with his better angels for dominance where winning means everything -- big time collegiate basketball. While all the characters here seem to be drawn from all-too-familiar stereotypes, especially the slimy and corrupt alumni booster (J.T. Walsh) and the young recruits from relatively poor backgrounds (Shaquille O'Neal, Anfernee Hardaway, and Matt Nover), Nolte makes the role of Coach Bell singular in every way. Along the way we meet the likes of ex-NBA great Bob Cousy as the equally torn college athletic director as well as Coach Bell's friend and confidant; along with the likes of former players Larry Bird and Marques Johnson in fictional roles, real-life college coaches Jerry Tarkanian, Bobby Knight, Rick Pitino, and others.
I suppose what leaves a cynical taste is the utter lack of scruples displayed by so many, but especially the under-privileged parents of two of the recruits; they're more-than-willing participants in what Coach Bell feels he has to do in order to compete, making the whole exercise feel too legitimate in a "real world" sense. While the coach agonizes, the parents and recruits readily acquiesce. Still, Nolte strikes the right tone in it all.
Blue Chips is a film worth watching for its methodical, and in Nolte's hands, entertaining depiction of college basketball recruiting. Mary McDonnell as the coach's ex-wife makes an attractive, intelligent, but unwitting anti-foil to Nolte's various schemes to push the letter of the rules just a little bit further, helping him procure the team that rises above the mediocre and reaches the sublime.
While the second half of the story is mostly predictable and the message of redemption heavy-handed and contrived, the ending in the playground does indeed resonate. It's a good rental for an evening's entertainment for those who enjoy relevant sports movies, and especially for those who like seeing Nick Nolte play a role to the hilt. |
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