--- title: "Hoosiers" year: 1986 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/hoosiers" fi1m_id: "hoosiers" imdb_id: "tt0091217" tmdb_id: 5693 wikidata_id: "Q784211" fi1m_score: 79 critics_score: 69 critics_reviews: 4 published: "2026-10-04T19:57:43.521234+00:00" updated: "2026-10-04T19:57:53.014058+00:00" region: "ID" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Hoosiers (1986) Directed by David Anspaugh · 1h 54m · Drama, Family ## Identity Hoosiers - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/hoosiers - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** hoosiers - **IMDb ID:** tt0091217 - **TMDB ID:** 5693 - **Wikidata ID:** Q784211 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091217/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/5693, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q784211 **Fi1m score: 79** · Critics 69 (early) from 4 reviews *In a sentence:* Gene Hackman makes a team meeting feel like a disciplinary hearing > *Hoosiers* is a satisfying sports drama whose sentiment occasionally gets the better of it. Gene Hackman makes the familiar coaching story worth following, with enough stubbornness to prevent all that encouragement becoming unbearable. ## Synopsis In a small town in postwar America, coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) prepares a team for the first game of the season. A meeting with the players and a first practice give him the chance to establish how he wants them to work. Myra Fleener (Barbara Hershey) and Wilbur “Shooter” Flatch (Dennis Hopper) are among the people drawn into his efforts. Dale wants the players to act together, but the team belongs to a town that expects a say in its affairs. Away from practice and the game, a town meeting puts the coach’s standing before the community. ## Review *Hoosiers* is a satisfying sports drama with a sentimental streak that occasionally needs reining in. David Anspaugh makes the familiar business of a coach meeting his team worth watching before anyone has given us a reason to cheer. Gene Hackman supplies most of that interest, playing Norman Dale with a stubbornness that can make an ordinary exchange feel uncomfortable. He looks capable of making a difficult afternoon worse without imagining he might be responsible. Angelo Pizzo’s screenplay is strongest when it gives Dale an immediate problem to manage, as in the team meeting and first practice. Gene Hackman makes instruction sound like a potential argument, and his authority never seems entirely secure. We were surprised by how tense the first practice made us. The performance keeps us watching for the next disagreement, and makes the business of getting a group of players to listen seem difficult enough to sustain a scene. Barbara Hershey gives Myra Fleener a welcome firmness, though the writing allows her too little space beside the coach. Dennis Hopper brings a more exposed quality to Wilbur “Shooter” Flatch, and the film sometimes presses his scenes too hard for sympathy. Both performances establish people worth caring about beyond Dale. Angelo Pizzo could have given them more room, especially when the team’s progress starts to dominate our attention. Fred Murphy’s cinematography gives the town a warmth that helps explain why its fortunes matter so much to the people here. The images invite affection without making every person in them reassuring. David Nichols’s production design keeps the practice setting plain enough that the uneasy group occupying it holds our attention. The space feels used. The nostalgia can become a little airless, but these ordinary surroundings allow the people to look awkward and unpolished. Carroll Timothy O’Meara’s editing makes the first game readable, allowing us to follow the play and weigh the coach’s decisions. There is no need to manufacture confusion simply because the people on screen are under pressure. Jerry Goldsmith’s score is more eager to tell us how to feel, and its swelling encouragement can arrive before the scene has earned it. The music is affecting, but a little less of it would leave more space for the actors. The larger weakness is the familiar sports-film assumption that a team’s fortunes should settle everybody’s doubts about themselves. David Anspaugh handles that belief with enough warmth to make it persuasive much of the time, but the insistence can become tiring. A town is allowed to care about its team without every match carrying quite so much moral importance. Against the usual demands of this sort of story, however, the film’s patience with Dale’s difficult manner is a substantial virtue. There is no need to know the rules before sitting down; the film is clear about what matters from moment to moment. It does ask for a tolerance of sporting sentiment, and we would not recommend it to anyone already allergic. For an evening with a good cast and a coach worth arguing about, it will do nicely. *Fi1m score 79, published 4 October 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Hoosiers worth watching?** *Hoosiers* is worth watching for its cast and tense coaching scenes, especially if we can tolerate a helping of sporting sentiment; we score it 79 out of 100. Gene Hackman’s stubborn, difficult coach keeps the familiar story interesting, though the swelling music and insistence that matches settle personal doubts can become tiring. **How long is Hoosiers, and what is it rated?** *Hoosiers* runs 1h 54m. It is a drama and family film. **Where can I watch Hoosiers in Indonesia?** *Hoosiers* is available to rent from Apple TV from Rp 25,000. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How does Hoosiers compare to Breaking Away?** *Hoosiers* offers a more conventional, sentimental sports drama than [*Breaking Away*](https://film.one/film/breaking-away), which we favour for its humour and frankness about class. Both care about small-town sporting ambition, but *Breaking Away* finds more to value away from competition. *Hoosiers* suits an evening built around a team’s progress, with Gene Hackman giving the familiar coaching story some welcome friction. **What should I watch after Hoosiers?** After *Hoosiers*, try [*Breaking Away*](https://film.one/film/breaking-away) (1979, Fi1m 86): Small-town sporting ambition, class resentment and affection that survives some pointed jokes. Then [*Bend It Like Beckham*](https://film.one/film/bend-it-like-beckham) (2002, Fi1m 76): Team sport gives family expectations and youthful independence something concrete to quarrel over; and [*Tokyo Olympiad*](https://film.one/film/tokyo-olympiad) (1965, Fi1m 88): Patient attention to sporting bodies, anxious spectators and the effort behind public achievement. ### Reviews we read (4) - **Los Angeles Times**, SHEILA BENSON (90/100, inferred): Benson finds Hoosiers engaging, thrilling and warmly human despite a few flaws. She especially praises Gene Hackman’s compelling performance and Fred Murphy’s atmospheric cinematography. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-12-11-ca-2098-story.html) - **Radio Times**, Adrian Turner (4/5): Turner praises the film as a finely drawn study of postwar American life. He singles out Gene Hackman’s swaggering, insightful performance and Jerry Goldsmith’s evocative score. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-al1syv/hoosiers/) - **The AV Club**, Scott Tobias (75/100, inferred): Tobias finds the film’s sentimentality excessive at times but ultimately effective and warmly evocative. He singles out Gene Hackman’s grounded performance for making the big emotional payoffs feel genuine. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/hoosiers-1798200481) - **Time Out**, NF (30/100, inferred): The available description presents the film as cloyingly nostalgic. It singles out the small-town sports story’s emphasis on reaching the State Finals as a source of self-respect. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/hoosiers) ## Details - **Director:** David Anspaugh - **Director:** David Anspaugh - **Writer:** Angelo Pizzo - **Cinematography:** Fred Murphy - **Editor:** Carroll Timothy O'Meara - **Music:** Jerry Goldsmith - **Production design:** David Nichols - **Costume design:** Jane Anderson - **Producer:** Angelo Pizzo, Carter DeHaven - **Cast:** Gene Hackman as Norman Dale; Barbara Hershey as Myra Fleener; Dennis Hopper as Wilbur "Shooter" Flatch; Sheb Wooley as Cletus Summers; Maris Valainis as Jimmy Chitwood; David Neidorf as Everett Flatch (#21); Brad Long as Buddy Walker (#14); Steve Hollar as Rade Butcher (#25) - **Runtime:** 1h 54m - **First release (the US):** 14 November 1986 - **Genres:** Drama, Family - **Budget:** $9 million - **Box office:** $29 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12h5KGHU8Mg ## Where to watch in Indonesia - Apple TV: rent Rp 25,000, hd - Apple TV: buy Rp 149,000, hd *Checked 2026-10-04.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IT, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1987: Best Original Score (nominated); Best Supporting Actor (nominated) ## If you liked this - *The Bad News Bears* (1976): A rougher, funnier account of coaching children, with far less faith in adults. - *Breaking Away* (1979), Fi1m 86: Small-town sporting ambition, class resentment and affection that survives some pointed jokes. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/breaking-away.md) - *Bend It Like Beckham* (2002), Fi1m 76: Team sport gives family expectations and youthful independence something concrete to quarrel over. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/bend-it-like-beckham.md) - *The Cup* (1999): Young monks’ football obsession brings a lighter touch to sport and community. - *Tokyo Olympiad* (1965), Fi1m 88: Patient attention to sporting bodies, anxious spectators and the effort behind public achievement. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/tokyo-olympiad.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/hoosiers