Directed by Richard Donner

Written by Valerie Curtain and Berry Levinson

There’s not a lot of basketball played throughout Inside Moves, but every time it is, you know it’s an important scene. John Savage plays a man named Raury, who has had enough of life and decides to try and take his own at the very beginning of the film. When he doesn’t succeed in committing suicide, he quickly becomes a bar regular and eventually bar worker at Max’s after getting out of the hospital. There he meets Jerry, played by David Morse, who is an aspiring basketball player and bartender at Max’s. We spend a lot of time at the bar with the regulars and those scenes are really fun, but Jerry’s dream of playing hoops professionally becomes a possibility when he plays Golden State Warriors guard Alvin Martin in a game of one on one. The road is tough for both leading men in this film and at times the story gets really sad, but overall it’s an uplifting story about dreams and friendship. Alvin Martin is a fictional basketball player, but there are some real Warriors figures in the film, which gives the brief NBA game scenes some weight to them. Inside Moves has an odd pace to it but it also feels pretty fucking real, so I would say it’s worth checking out.

Directed by Rod Daniel

Written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman

Michael J. Fox became one of the biggest stars in the summer of 1985 with the releases of Back to the Future and Teen Wolf. I thoroughly enjoy Back to the Future, while Teen Wolf is not nearly as rewarding. The 80’s atmosphere is there, the music is there, the ridiculous ideas are there, but my goodness this is a weird basketball film when looking at everything the subgenre has to offer. When Fox’s character, Scott Howard turns into a werewolf, his basketball skills go from a shitty high school guard to prime Russell Westbrook. The basketball choreography is really bad, and why do they play the state championship game on a random ass school day at the school that Scott Howard attends? I realize that basketball is just a catapult for this film which is really just about accepting who you are and being humble about it, but holy shit, at least think about how actual high school state basketball tournaments are played. If you like extremely 80’s films then this is worth checking out, but if you’re a harsh critic of basketball action then it will most likely frustrate the hell out of you.

Directed by William Friedkin

Written by Ron Shelton

William Friedkin was a hell of a filmmaker (The French Connection, 1971 and The Exorcist, 1973) and occasionally he would do something really random that still has his incredible touch, causing them to be gems in his wonderful filmography. Blue Chips is one of those random gems. Nick Nolte plays Pete Bell who is the head coach at a fictional college. When coach Bell is not getting the results desired by higher ups at the school, he starts getting proactive and goes to lengths that were very dangerous at the time. Also in the cast are NBA legends, Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway. They give the film some legitimate basketball moments while Bob Cousy plays one of the higher ups that Nick Nolte has to answer to. Blue Chips is one of the rare occasions where real basketball titans enhance the experience of watching the film. Make no mistake, this is one of the most unique and worthwhile watches in the subgenre of basketball films.

Directed by Charles Martin Smith

Written by Paul Tamasy, Aaron Mendelsohn, and Kevin DiCicco

Pretty incredible that this film spawned a whole franchise. One of these days, I’m going to watch all of them to see just how bad they are, but that day is not today. Air Bud was a major success on a tiny budget when it came out and I vividly remember the VHS or DVD being in every household when I was a little kid hanging out with friends. The story is nice and wholesome and the actual filmmaking is fine, but the basketball is atrocious. Of course, the on court stuff with Buddy the golden retriever is silly but it’s the other kids they casted to play that are horrendous. Choreography is bad, basketball skill level is bad, and the road to the championship game at the end is baffling. If you’re just trying to put on an average family film, Air Bud is a decent choice, but if you’re trying to watch something with good basketball action, stay far away. Or, embrace the hell out of it!

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood

Written by Gina Prince-Bythewood 

Quincy McCall and Monica Wright have become pop culture icons over the past couple of decades because of how damn good Love & Basketball is. Played by Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan to near perfection, this thing goes way beyond being just another basketball film with decent on court action because the love story at the center of it is so endearing. Quincy and Monica meet at age 11 and have a unique roller coaster relationship from being best friends as kids to high school basketball stars that live in different worlds to partners at USC where they both play college ball that have to endure major speed bumps that might just end their connection. It’s way more of a romantic drama than it is a basketball film, but Love & Basketball demands attention from start to finish either way.

Directed by James Toback

Written by James Toback

We have to include this totally bonkers film because there’s a couple basketball scenes that are super important to the story and Ray Allen is in it who is undoubtedly one of the greatest shooting guards to ever live. Adrian Grenier plays Harvard starting point guard Alan Jensen who is dating Cindy Bandolini, daughter of organized crime boss and she is played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. When Alan accepts an offer from Cindy that will change his life at least temporarily, things spin out of control in a really exciting way for the viewer. The off court chaos worked for me even though the editing and lighting are major creative decisions that will turn a lot of people off. I don’t know, it’s just strange enough to keep me engaged the whole time. This is one of those films that’s not very good, but it's “my kind” of not very good and maybe there are other people out there who would agree.

Directed by Jim Strouse

Written by Jim Strouse

The Winning Season is quite a bit better than it probably should be. It’s a pretty typical plot with Sam Rockwell playing Bill Greaves, a deadbeat dad and alcoholic who suddenly gets an offer to go back to his old high school to coach basketball. The kicker is that it’s the girls team and they only have six players. He has to confront his personal issues while also learning how to get back into the sport he has always loved but hasn’t loved him back. I’m not going to call this a must watch film but Rockwell is really engaged and elevates everything like a great actor should. The basketball action is forgettable, but there’s some really endearing stuff from the girls on the team played by Emma Roberts, Rooney Mara, Shareeka Epps, Emily Rios, Meaghan Witri, and Melanie Hinkle. If you’re a film fan then seeing Mara in something like The Winning Season is really strange because she literally went from this to “The Social Network” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” right after. Roberts and Epps are solid, but for me it’s Rios who steals the show. Not a bad film to throw on for a few laughs, some fun performances, and a little bit of inspiration.

Directed by Tim Chambers

Written by Tim Chambers and Anthony Gargano

The Mighty Macs story deserves a redo. In 1971, hall of fame Head Coach, Cathy Rush took over at Immaculata College. Women’s college basketball was just getting started in the 70’s and the film doesn’t totally explain that which I see as a glaring problem. In fact, the NCAA didn’t properly take the women’s game seriously until the early 80’s. There was a smaller tournament in the 70’s and Cathy Rush consistently led her Immaculata teams on deep runs in those early tournaments, including three national titles, cementing herself as a pioneer of the women’s game. Again, they don’t really go into that during the film. Instead, the screenplay is pretty amateur and gives into really predictable tropes that we have seen a thousand times in lower budget sports films. Of course there’s a credits bit, showing what the Immaculata players went on to do and that Cathy Rush led them to multiple titles. That’s neat, but there needs to be depth in the actual film, not just a two minute bit when it’s already over. Carla Gugino plays Cathy Rush and Ellen Burstyn plays Mother St. John at the college. I really like both of them, but there’s not nearly enough substance for them to work with. Overall, this is a frustrating watch because of the lack of care from a writing and directing standpoint and because the basketball action is only well choreographed in a couple scenes. There’s not enough good girls/womens basketball films out there and this could’ve been the perfect story to right the ship.

Directed by Eddie Huang

Written by Eddie Huang

Boogie is the nickname of Alfred Chin, played by Taylor Takahashi, a Chinese American basketball star living in New York. He oozes with talent, but hits a sort of crossroads as he has to decide what he wants his future to be while also remaining present for formative moments. There’s a handful of basketball scenes that are totally standard in this film with a pretty lazy atmosphere. The jerseys, the crowd, and the lack of a proper outline of the stakes of the games are all glaring problems. The off the court drama feels pretty forced throughout with dialogue that isn’t how real people converse. I feel like the actors were kind of wasted with the screenplay, mainly Taylour Paige, who plays the love interest. Rest in Peace to Pop Smoke, who plays Monk, a local streetball star that Boogie constantly runs into. Really wish he didn’t have to play a super predictable dude who just talks shit and plays very little defense. Overall, Boogie is a frustrating watch because the general idea could be pretty cool with the right person or people in charge. Instead we get a poorly edited and poorly planned out film that doesn’t work. 

Directed by Jingyi Shao

Written by Jingyi Shao

Totally surprised by this one! A Disney+ distributed film, Chang Can Dunk is a fairly well told story about a high schooler named Chang played by Bloom Li who dreams of playing basketball and of course, dunking. What took me by surprise most was the direction and writing from Jingyi Shao in his feature length debut. He had something real to say and actually has a decent eye for creative scenes that form a worthwhile watch. The basketball action is pretty good and really focused on Chang’s journey of trying to learn how to dunk. His trainer DeAndre, is played by Dexter Darden who I found to be a breath of fresh air in the subgenre of basketball films. Chang's best friend, Bo is played by Ben Wang and then his love interest Kristy, is played by Zoe Renee. They are both really solid, but it’s Mardy Ma who plays Chang’s mom that steals the show. There are a few mother and son scenes that give the whole thing a real weight to it that I really appreciate. Also, the NBA cameos are hilarious and so random. I would go as far as saying this is a sort of diamond in the rough. It’s not one of the best basketball films ever, but it’s worth checking out if you like hoops and a quality coming of age story.