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The Winning Season (2009)

tomatometer

60

Average Rating: 6.2/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 2

No consensus yet.

audience

58

liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 1,510

My Rating

Movie Info

Set in suburban Indiana, the film stars Rockwell as Bill Greaves, an adult misfit recruited by the local high school principal (Corddry) to coach the school's floundering girls' basketball team. Initially retreating from what appears to be a hopeless situation, Bill perseveres and manages to help the team and its captain (Roberts) ratchet up its competitive spirit, while the girls offer Bill a renewed life focus. THE WINNING SEASON also stars Shareeka Epps, Emily Rios and Margo Martindale.-- (C)

PG-13, 1 hr. 44 min.

Comedy

James C. Strouse

Nov 23, 2010

Roadside Attractions

Cast

All Critics (21) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (11) | Rotten (9)

In its final lap The Winning Season collapses into a sentimental farce that even Mr. Rockwell, now playing the clown, cannot redeem from cringe-inducing hokum.

September 3, 2010 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Rockwell does a typically fine job -- he's funny, touching and appalling -- as an alcoholic mess of a former high school basketball coach who's been reduced to washing dishes in a restaurant.

September 3, 2010 Full Review Source: New York Post | Comment
New York Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The story deepens through the clownish, heartbreaking exertions of Rockwell's gruff misfit, still working things out at the final buzzer.

September 2, 2010 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A predictable and cliched dramady.

September 2, 2010 Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | Comments (2)
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The Winning Season respects its misfits (and its audience) by not stripping away their foibles in the service of sports-movie clichés.

August 31, 2010 Full Review Source: Village Voice | Comment
Village Voice
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Doesn't win points for originality, but the film keeps to a steady rhythm of entertainment, delivering a few laughs and tears along the way on DVD before it settles into its rightful home on basic cable.

November 26, 2010 Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | Comment
BrianOrndorf.com

Sam Rockwell's never-ending ability to create intriguing characters proves essential to writer/director James C. Strouse, whose formulaic tale of redemption for a washed up basketball coach would otherwise be instantly forgettable.

September 12, 2010 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | Comment
ColeSmithey.com

Quirky indie sports flick is surprisingly serious, moving.

September 10, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

I want you to see this movie On Demand to witness the most underrated actor in all of the world, Sam Rockwell. That way, he won't have to make another movie like this ever again.

September 10, 2010 Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com | Comment
WaffleMovies.com

"The Winning Season" teeters hither and thither on its tonal seesaw, never quite sure where its going and often forgetful of where it's been.

September 3, 2010 Full Review Source: cinemaobsession.com | Comment
cinemaobsession.com

Rockwell charms us into giving the film the benefit of our many doubts.

September 3, 2010 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | Comment
Boxoffice Magazine

A shaggy underdog worth seeking out, primarily for [Sam] Rockwell's sensational performance.

September 2, 2010 Full Review Source: Metromix.com | Comment
Metromix.com

Forget AA; according to the movies, there's no better cure for alcoholism or depression than good ol' precollegiate athletic coaching.

September 1, 2010 Full Review Source: Time Out New York | Comment (1)
Time Out New York

A mildly entertaining sports flick about a girl's basketball team and a chauvinistic coach who knows a lot about the game.

September 1, 2010 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | Comment
Spirituality and Practice

Aims for both the heatstring-tugging power of sports classics like Hoosiers and the kind of gritty indie drama you might normally see Rockwell in, but falls well short of both.

August 30, 2010 Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | Comment
CinemaBlend.com

A film that feels fresh and insightful in a generally pretty played out genre.

August 30, 2010 Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | Comment
CinemaBlend.com

Considering its status as merely a puddle of regurgitated elements, The Winning Season is, to be as coarse as its protagonist, the cinematic equivalent of vomit.

August 30, 2010 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

A welcome surprise...Rockwell gives a performance that's always funny, never sentimental...this one is worth finding.

August 30, 2010 Full Review Source: Hollywood & Fine | Comment
Hollywood & Fine

As the film progresses, its identity crisis becomes increasingly evident as standard indie tropes are interrupted by cackhanded attempts at comedy of the broadest type.

July 4, 2009 Full Review Source: Eye for Film | Comment
Eye for Film
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Winning Season

I didnt expect to like this movie. The start was a little slow, and I wasn't sure how well put together this movie was going to be. Before too long, however, I was all on board! Very dry, quirky, understated humor here, which seems to be Sam Rockwell's forte, and I love that. The girls were fantastic. Just an all round

December 16, 2011
itsjustme2004

Super Reviewer

It took a bunch of girls to make him man up. Great Film! This is not a bad film at all, It was shockingly impressive and good. Sam Rockwell was so hilarious and into his role, he's a very talented actor. He seems to be the reason why this film is pretty good. He's basically a drunken asshole, very unlikable, but he

April 20, 2011
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Manu Gino

Super Reviewer

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