Of the recently departed Gene Hackman’s greatest hits — take your pick among The French Connection, Unforgiven, and The Royal Tenenbaums, among others — the most loved, at least for those seeking a fairytale David versus Goliath sports redemption story, is without question Hoosiers.

No movie in Hackman’s oeuvre — possibly in all of sports moviedom — pulls as many heartstrings and checks as many emotional boxes as the tale of the underdog high school basketball team from a tiny town playing its way to a state championship against much larger schools in hoop-crazy Indiana.
Hoosiers has everything. The “inspired by a true story” monicker — specifically, Milan High School’s 1954 state championship season. The down-and-out coach resuscitating his career in an improbable way. The plucky group of boys who overcomes significant adversity to achieve success. The pure, unsullied nature of a righteous pursuit. The great locker-room speech, realistic and time-sensitive game action, an unlikely hero making a game-winning free throw, and a likely hero making a championship-game-winning shot.
There’s a reason the Associated Press voted it the top sports movie of all time. It’s emotional; it’s uplifting; it’s inspiring; it’s nostalgic. It harkens back to a day when sports were as pure as an Indiana snowstorm in a state that made the now-almost-extinct single-class state tournament famous. (Only Kentucky, of all the states, still has one.) It tells a tale of unalloyed pursuit of a worthwhile goal undertaken under insurmountable odds. Of the 700-plus high schools participating in the tournament, the little one out in the boonies wins it all.
And Hackman’s character makes it all happen. He plays a coach — Norman Dale — booted out of college basketball in New York for punching a player but given a second chance by an old buddy (Cletus) who happens to be principal at a little, rural high school in Hickory, Indiana. He’s an old-schooler who wears a shirt and tie to practice and likes dri...