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One of the most critically acclaimed documentaries of all time, Hoop Dreams is a rich, complex, heartbreaking, and ultimately deeply rewarding film that uses high school hoops as a jumping-off point to explore issues of race, class, and education in modern America.
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All Critics (57) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (1)
The film is rich in backstage tension, from Agee's bad grades to Gates's knee injuries, while the glaring social inequality is reflected in the violent fathers and criminal friends who populate the outskirts of the tale. Oct 28, 2019 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…
The film is rich in backstage tension, from Agee's bad grades to Gates's knee injuries, while the glaring social inequality is reflected in the violent fathers and criminal friends who populate the outskirts of the tale.
Kevin Maher
Perhaps James's biggest achievement is his unshowy emphasis on the poetry of basketball itself: the jump shot, the slam-dunk, ecstatic physical expressions of pure transcendental success. Oct 25, 2019 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…
Perhaps James's biggest achievement is his unshowy emphasis on the poetry of basketball itself: the jump shot, the slam-dunk, ecstatic physical expressions of pure transcendental success.
Peter Bradshaw
It's about three hours long. But it moves like Isiah, fast and smooth, and it's over in a heartbreak. Aug 3, 2008 | Full Review…
It's about three hours long. But it moves like Isiah, fast and smooth, and it's over in a heartbreak.
Richard Corliss
Hoop Dreams has shown us that the rules of the game are stacked against kids like Gates and Agee. Even better, it shows us how they fight back, with the inside moves of hope. Mar 31, 2008 | Full Review…
Hoop Dreams has shown us that the rules of the game are stacked against kids like Gates and Agee. Even better, it shows us how they fight back, with the inside moves of hope.
David Ansen
A heady dose of the American dream and the American nightmare combined -- a numbing investigation of how one point on an exam or one basket or turnover in a game can make all the difference in a family's fortunes. Mar 21, 2007 | Full Review…
A heady dose of the American dream and the American nightmare combined -- a numbing investigation of how one point on an exam or one basket or turnover in a game can make all the difference in a family's fortunes.
Jonathan Rosenbaum
A prodigious achievement that conveys the fabric of modern American life, aspirations and incidentally, sports, in close-up and at length, Hoop Dreams is a documentary slam dunk. Mar 21, 2007
A prodigious achievement that conveys the fabric of modern American life, aspirations and incidentally, sports, in close-up and at length, Hoop Dreams is a documentary slam dunk.
Todd McCarthy
It is impossible to watch this story of kids who have dreams of becoming rich and famous by way of professional basketball without a sense of nostalgia and even sadness. Aug 28, 2018 | Full Review…
It is impossible to watch this story of kids who have dreams of becoming rich and famous by way of professional basketball without a sense of nostalgia and even sadness.
Charles Mudede
Utterly, heartbreakingly lucid. Apr 10, 2018 | Full Review…
Utterly, heartbreakingly lucid.
Robert Horton
The film is a rare three-dimensional account of African-American lives and a stinging indictment of an educational system which, with its sports scholarships, institutionalises bribery. Nov 30, 2017 | Full Review…
The film is a rare three-dimensional account of African-American lives and a stinging indictment of an educational system which, with its sports scholarships, institutionalises bribery.
Quentin Curtis
Hoop Dreams was declared a masterpiece early on, and decades later its prestige hasn't diminished one bit. Aug 15, 2017 | Full Review…
Hoop Dreams was declared a masterpiece early on, and decades later its prestige hasn't diminished one bit.
Jason Gorber
... well worth your time for the up close and personal view it provides of how issues of race and class play out in the lives of these talented young men and their families. Aug 19, 2016 | Rating: 9/10 | Full Review…
... well worth your time for the up close and personal view it provides of how issues of race and class play out in the lives of these talented young men and their families.
Sarah Boslaugh
Steve James's remarkable example of cinéma vérité tells the problematic journey of high school basketball stars William Gates and Arthur Agee, two African-American teenagers growing up in Chicago ghettos. Jul 16, 2013 | Rating: A+ | Full Review…
Steve James's remarkable example of cinéma vérité tells the problematic journey of high school basketball stars William Gates and Arthur Agee, two African-American teenagers growing up in Chicago ghettos.
Cole Smithey
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