[An] effective, if overlong basketball drama.
Comment
05/26/06
Blue Chips (1994)
40
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:25
Fresh:10
Rotten:15
Average Rating:5.1/10
Runtime: 18 hrs 28 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: In the wide world of sports, college athletics is a high-powered game unto itself, plagued by political corruption, financial coercion and academic dishonesty. Such are the issues confronting... [More]
Starring: Nick Nolte, Shaquille O'Neal, Mary McDonnell, Ed O'Neill
Director: William Friedkin
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Reviews for Blue Chips
Much of the movie's problem, I suspect, comes from the vast use of non-professionals in dramatic roles, whose charismatic abilities should be restricted to the basketball court and not the dramatic arena.
01/01/00
A rare example of an entry into this genre that attempts to be honest and unique.
01/01/00
Top CriticWhat Friedkin brings to the story is a tone that feels completely accurate; the movie is a morality play, told in the realistic, sometimes cynical terms of modern high-pressure college sports.
01/01/00
Top CriticThe film is quite entertaining in its own right and Nolte does give it a tremendous boost.
01/01/00
The filmmakers don't get the ball into the Shaq-man's hands enough -- both literally and figuratively -- to make this personable giant's screen debut memorable.
01/01/00
Top CriticIf Mr. Friedkin didn't have to work so strenuously framing two-shots of Mr. Nolte with this seven-foot athlete, it might be hard to remember that Mr. O'Neal has a day job.
05/20/03
Top CriticA deafness-inducing but otherwise ho-hum would-be expose of shady recruiting practices by college basketball programs.
03/25/08
Top CriticThe on-court action is fairly bland, and photographed from all the wrong angles.
01/01/00
It is a very homogenized movie that never offends, yet never seems to be for real either.
01/01/00
Not even an unsentimental basketball fan like director William Friedkin can wash away all the corn syrup.
03/25/08
Top CriticIf it wasn't for some exciting roundball action, Shaquille O'Neal's hulking-dunking presence and a wonderfully guttural performance from coach Nick Nolte, you'd slither off the bench asleep.
01/01/00
Top CriticA good concept fails to become a good movie in this predictable tale of corruption in college basketball.
03/25/08
This hard-hitting college basketball drama marks a notable return to form for William Friedkin.
06/24/06
Watching various hoop stars and legends trying to act is cringeworthy, O'Neal particularly bad, but Friedkin's movie, written by sports film specialist Shelton has a lot of passion.
03/25/08
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05/20/03
Worth seeing for Nolte's force-of-nature performance and the novelty of Shaq "emoting."
07/25/02
No review available.
08/25/04
No review available.
02/17/05
No review available.
08/16/05
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