It's 1951. Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) arrives in the small Indiana town of Hickory. His old friend Cletus gets him a high school teaching and basketball coaching job. He's a former college coach with a troubled past. Fellow teacher Myra Fleener (Barbara Hershey) is intrigued by the newcomer. The best player Jimmy Chitwood refuses to play after the lost of his beloved coach. Myra looks after Jimmy with his troubled home life and doesn't want him to play. Dale throws out the bossy local coach and a mouthy player in the first practice. They are severely undermanned and he benches a disobedient player despite having only four players on the floor. Shooter Flatch (Dennis Hopper) is a drunken former star player and father to one of the players.

This follows the long tradition of the underdog sports movie and builds on it. The story is all cliché and proud of it. Hackman is masterful. Hopper is a great drunk. Hershey is the wearied type and I'm glad that they don't have a 20 year old bright-eyed hottie to play the romantic lead. The movie is earnest to its core and there lies its charms.