Review of The Winning Season (2009) by Charly M — 24 Mar 2011

I never thought I'd be praising a movie about girl's basketball for effectively capturing the high school life, and I never thought I'd see Sam Rockwell in a movie about girl's basketball either. But that is the case for 'The Winning Season,' in which Rockwell plays an alcoholic recruited by an old friend to coach a high school girl's basketball team. While some people will be bored by the girl's basketball (there really isn't a lot), or maybe even by the depressing nature of the film, but it's ultimate purpose lies in showing the miscommunication between adults and teenagers, as well as males and females of all ages, which is does so very well.

Gender roles play a big part in the film as Rockwell's character dismisses his assigned team immediately because he stands firm with the idea that girls hate him for a reason he's more than aware of: he's a prejudice asshole. He's separated from his wife and daughter, who he reluctantly tries to reconnect with. He resides to his drinking problem because he is subconsciously aware that his ex-wife and daughter ruined his basketball career. AA would really be the best thing for him, but coaching high school girl's basketball is still a good second option.

While Rockwell's character is the center of focus in the film, we also get to witness some aspects of the girl's (on the basketball team) personal lives, which mostly are cliche (resorting to racial issues, one girl dates a really old guy and another dates a inconsiderate jock) but are saved by impressive acting. In most cases, though, Rockwell steals the scene. It is depressing at times, but it is still a feel-good movie that shows an significant development in the main character, and it happens to be pretty funny for the most part.