Hoop Dreams

Cast

William Gates
as Himself

Frederick Marx

Arthur Agee
as Himself

Peter Gilbert

William Gates
as Himself

Arthur Agee
as Himself

Emma Gates
as Herself (William's mother)

Curtis Gates

Sheila Agee
as Herself (Arthur's mother)

Earl Smith
as Himself (Talent scout)

Gene Pingatore
as Himself (Coach)

Isiah Thomas
as Himself (Professional basketball player)

Marilyn Hopewell

Bill Gleason

Patricia Weir

Marjorie Heard

Luther Bedford

Aretha Mitchell

Shannon Johnson

Tomika Agee

Kevin O'Neill
as Himself (Marquette University head basketball coach)

Joe 'Sweetie' Agee

Jazz Agee

Catherine Mines

Alicia Mines

Alvin Bibbs

Willie Gates

James Kelly

Michael O'Brien

Dick Vitale
as Himself (Television sports commentator)

Kevin O'Neill

Bobby Knight
as Himself (Indiana University head basketball coach)

Joey Meyer

Frank DuBois

Spike Lee
as Himself (Film director)

Bo Ellis

Bob Gibbons

Dennis Doyle

Clarence Webb

Stan Wilson

Derrick Zinneman

Tim Gray

Myron Gordon

View All

Critic Reviews for Hoop Dreams

Audience Reviews for Hoop Dreams

• Apr 15, 2016

  Hampered by being too long and not focused enough.
  Marcus W Super Reviewer
• Jul 16, 2014

  Hoop Dreams doesn't treat its documentary material like a traditional documentary would. Though they're there, the interview sound bites aren't excessive, and the film doesn't bother overloading the audience with facts and statistics. Rather, Hoop Dreams presents its subject in the most real way possible, following these people and letting us see their struggle to get a strong sense of who they are. This leads to Hoop Dreams not only being one of the most absorbing documentaries ever produced, but also one of the most absorbing films period for its ability to make you care for the subject manner and people in a way that even most fictional films fail to do.
  Joey T Super Reviewer
• Feb 27, 2013

  Hoop Dreams is sprawling, ambitious and surprisingly engaging, managing to endear its central subjects to the viewer in a way that's rare to see in documentary cinema, though its daunting length leads it to occasionally feel over-saturated.
  Isaac H Super Reviewer
• Jun 24, 2012

  Two Chicago-area teens undergo a myriad of struggles as they hope to one day play in the NBA. I remember when this film came out and Siskel and Ebert almost creamed themselves over it and had a collective apoplectic fit when it wasn't nominated for Best Documentary. Conflating themes of race, poverty, urban violence, parenting, education, and the illusory American Dream, <i>Hoop Dreams</I> offers a lot to chew on, making it understandable that professional critics would find it so riveting. I agree that it is an extraordinary film that has a profound and wide scope (though I wouldn't go so far as Hal Hinson who calls it "The most powerful movie about sports ever made"). And though Gates and Agee are occasionally unlikable, they are interesting, flawed and human in readily identifiable ways. The one thing I didn't like was the "degree of embeddedness." It seemed like the documentarians checked in on their subject regularly, and thus we don't get to see some of the profound changes like the birth of Gates's kid or the histrionics of Agee's father. Overall, even though nothing could live up to the hype that originally surrounded this film, <i>Hoop Dreams</i> is a profound portrait of American life and our pursuit of happiness, which often gets confused with the pursuit of money and fame.
  Jim H Super Reviewer

Hoop Dreams Quotes

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