Blue Chips

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Trailer—Blue Chips

Blue Chips

This movie could have potentially been based on a true story. The plot of the movie was unlike any other basketball or sports movie. Also the casting of actual NBA players like Penny Hardaway and Shaq was brilliant by the director. They both played great parts in this movie as highly recruited blue chip basketball players and fit perfectly within the plot. This movie was also unique in the regards that it featured other universities like Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers. Although this movie was a great movie overall , i feel it could have had a better ending. The ending of the movie was pretty weak and was the only downfall of this movie. However I still believe that this is one of the best basketball movies of all time and there will never be a movie like this again.

Money corrupts in "Blue Chips", one of director William Friedkin's better films. It stars the always watchable Nick Nolte as a basketball coach who breaks regulations, rules and bribery statutes in order to put together a winning team. Nolte often plays tortured characters who crumble under the weight of guilt and self-hatred. Here his character, Pete Bell, starts off as a confident con-man but eventually becomes a hunchbacked wreck. In the film's climactic sequence (possibly informed by a decade's worth of NCAA athletic scandals), Bell stands before journalists and delivers an almighty confession, denouncing the corruption which spawns organically from systems reliant upon profit, loss and winning at any cost. Evocative of "And Justice For All", which featured a similar last-act rant by Al Pacino, the film also anticipates Spike Lee's "He Got Game", another basketball flick which milks similar themes. 7.9/10 – Worth one viewing.

On its own, William Friedkin's "Blue Chips" has stood the test of time, focusing on a basketball coach who hopes to break his losing streak by cheating in his hiring practices. Nick Nolte's first scene - where he berates his team for their poor performance - makes you feel like you're walking on eggshells. And then there's Shaquille O'Neal, making his film debut as one of the recruits. Shaq puts on a good performance, but his recent drift into anti-scientific mumbo jumbo (he believes the earth to be flat) makes his presence here less enjoyable. Aside from that it's a good movie, with some impressive scenes of basketball games. Quite a different turn from the director of "The French Connection" and "The Exorcist".

Nick Nolte carries the movie and Mary McDonnell is great in a supporting role. It's not just a film for those who follow hoops or hate the inexplicable incompetence of the NCAA, it's also a story about the human condition.

This isn't a bad movie at all. Considering the scandals that have come to light about college athletes receiving cars, houses, money, etc. this film has even more relevance today than it did when it first came out. To see a Shaquille O'Neal full of potential and natural talent (yet not yet spoiled by his own success) is a thrill - even for a Kings fan. His acting isn't the point; it's the few scenes that show him actually playing basketball that are worth watching for.

While the story was rather interesting, it seemed like it was too sensationalized for it own good. Unfortunately, in a movie about basketball players, one cannot find 7-foot actors, which meant Shaq O'Neal was one of the few people who could fill the role. This entire film tries to hard, accentuating points too harshly, and showing how corrupt the entire system in a manner that doesn't appear believable. I will say this, Nick Nolte really embodies the uber-Bobby Knight character, and what happened to Matt Nover? He was clearly the only good actor amongst all of the basketball players in the film.