Fast Break

Not great, not bad, this film from the disco era has not aged well but still contains some amusing moments. (Is it me, or does film and TV from the late 70s seems so much older and dated than from any other time period in the post-WWII era?) But the thought that kept entering my head as I watched Gabe Kaplan smirk and wink-wink through his performance was that 10 years later, Billy Crystal could have done this movie is his sleep... and done it better. 6 out of 10 stars: perfect during a snooze on a lazy rainy afternoon...

Gabe Kaplan, of WELCOME BACK, KOTTER fame, stars as a NY restaurant manager who loves basketball. He plays street ball with the ghetto kids, studies sports journals and high school yearbooks, and dreams of coaching. When a remote Nevada university offers him a coaching position for Room & Board, he jumps at the chance, leaving his frustrated wife behind, but taking 4 talented black kids with him to outfit the team. (One of these is a real NBA player.. check it out). Unless you have a magic vhs copy that has lasted for decades (if you do, get it transferred to DVD now!), you will be hard-pressed to find this great movie. However, GOOD NEWS! There are a couple of versions on YouTube for which I'd gladly pay $ 5.00 for a viewing, but, as of today, they are free of charge. Enjoy!

I saw this movie when I was ten years old or so and it still has one of the funniest scenes all-time in movie history. I still remember so much about this movie but you can't find it anywhere today. This needs to be released on DVD. There's a woman pretending to be a man so she can get a scholarship to play basketball. One of the guys on the team is attracted to her/him and starts to think he is gay. The funny scene has the team traveling in a station wagon across country when a cop gets on their tail. The coach discovers that one of the players is carrying a bag of pot and he suggests that they eat the pot to escape detection. " How much you got?" ONE POUND! SO funny you have to see it to believe it. Too bad its impossible to find.

This is a good film which is thoroughly entertaining with some snappy dialogue. None of the actors had really spectacular film careers but in this effort all came to the front of the class with very good performances. The cast mixes well. Without a doubt this is Gabe Kaplan's best effort, even overshadowing his TV role as Mr. Cotter.

This is the perfect role for Gabe Kaplan and he makes the most of it as a wise-guy citified coach coming to an Oral-Roberts-like white-bread evangelical university to bring a winning basketball coach. Every body has a lot of fun all around and things move rather quickly. Bernard King has astonishingly good coming timing and acts well too.

It uses the old plot about a down and out coach whipping into shape a sports team filled with losers. And of course, there's the big game at the end, with a nail biting climax. Yet it works. Why does this movie work? Because of many reasons. It's obvious the filmmakers took care to try to remove as many cliches as possible, and make it less predictable. More focus is on the characters instead of the old plot. The characters are more believable, and evolve through the course of the movie - they're likable. The "big game" is exciting, even though we know what will happen. Plus, there are a lot of big laughs in this movie.