3/5 It's a Good Film, but Not as Good as the Robert Mitchum Version
  by Scott FS (Sacramento, CA United States)
This is a made-for-TV version of the Jason Miller Pulitzer-prize winning play. It's a good film, but it's just not as good as the 1982 movie version with the fantastic Robert Mitchum as the coach of a high school championship team, reuniting for the 24th anniversary of their team's success.

The movie talks to guys, mostly, I think, although who knows, maybe female athletes have the same somber realization of the passing of time as men do.

Paul Savino is the only returning cast member that I'm aware of; he played a player in the movie version; here, he plays the coach. He does a good job in both.

The TV movie has gotten uneven reviews, justifiably in my opinion. I think it's the actors in this version just don't do as good of a job as in the filmed version, though Sinise's acting is very good, as is D'Onofrio's.

Moderately recommended, especially if you've seen the original version, for comparison purposes. Three stars.

5/5 That Championship Season
  by Mary Cahill (Dolton, IL, USA)
Okay, I bought this for my Vincent D'Onofrio collection...and watched it just to say I'd watched it. D'Onofrio puts in one of his "bad boy" performances...he's the man your Mother rightfully warned you about! But, as usual, he plays the part so realistically that you love him in spite of his many flaws. There is a strong cast here and some interesting insights into the male mind, how it works, and what happens when it doesn't work all that well! There's a particular situation where the love of a woman vs male bonding...that alone is worth the watching. While this isn't a film for everyone, it's a surprisingly revealing film and I'm certainly glad it's in my D'Onofrio collection. For sports fans, this is a winner. For those who like to study relationships, expecially male relationships, this movie will be worth your time. It has a way of haunting you for a while after you see it. Enjoy!

5/5 One of Best movies I have ever seen
  by William Marks (Sharon, Ct. United States)
It burns me. Leonard Maltin's 2005 movie review doesn't even mention this version. The 1982 version, which he does mention, cannot even compare. That version, with Robert Mitchum, was ill-conceived and Mitchum was miss-cast. But the performances by all in this 1999 version is outstanding, especially Paul Sorvino who appeared in both versions.
Both Sorvino's acting and directing in this movie is top shelf and I believe a reflection of his experience from having been in the earlier version. There will, of course, be someone who will see racism, male superiority complex, etc which of course is all bull. The fact is that this movie is just plain great acting and directing with outstanding character developement and is worth watching over and over again.

DM

5/5 worth every second........
  by S. Johnson (Chaska, MN)
This is a top notch drama with top notch actors. This story is the 20 year reunion of a basketball team and the coach that took them to the state championship, and this movie takes place in the coaches house. The scenery doesn't change, but what is impeckable with this story is the sudden changes between humor and seriousness; and not to mention the sudden changes between comoradarie and disbandonment. This story is more political than I care for, but easy to follow.

4/5 Good drama, interesting characters
  by H. Gamble (Melb, Aus)
Overall I enjoyed this movie very much, after a slow start. It was adapted from a play, and this shows; especially in the fact that the action is set almost entirely in one location. At first I thought this made the movie a little boring, but as the plot and characters developed it actually became quite interesting.

The movie is very much character driven, it is about four ex-basketball players and their coach who get together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of a championship win at the coach's house. All five principal characters are flawed and to an extent dissatisfied with their lives. The storyline is basically about how these flaws and frustrations create conflict between the characters and how all of these tensions come to the surface on this night.

I thought that the acting was excellent, and even though the characters come across as ammoral and even pathetic, the viewer can relate to them because they are after all, flawed humans, just like everyone else. My only criticism would be of Gary Sinise's character; an alcholic whose role in the film was mainly to show-up the weaknesses of the other characters. His sarcastic remarks became a little annoying firstly because what he was pointing out was obvious anyway; and secondly because he was hardly a model of a well-adjusted person himself.

So I would definitely recommend this movie as an interesting character study.