Gene Hackman’s towering performance in Hoosiers has always been the beating heart of what many consider one of the greatest sports movies ever made. Now, in the wake of Hackman’s passing at the age of 95, the film feels more poignant than ever — a testament not only to small-town dreams but to the quiet strength of one of cinema’s most unforgettable actors.
He may have been a Hollywood legend, but Hackman always gave you the impression that a streak of decency ran through him, an Everyman’s honesty that allowed him to disappear into any role that he played. Whether as a cop, a crook, a cowboy, or in the case of Hoosiers an inspiring basketball coach, Hackman’s performances always made you lean in and believe every word he said. His characters felt like people you’d met before, or could meet tomorrow.
And maybe it’s the fact that he started in show business relatively late — he was 37 when he got cast in his breakout role, in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde — that explains why he was a character actor who nevertheless carried himself like a leading man. He didn’t get into this business, in other words, as the new hot young thing. It always felt more like Hackman fought to prove himself, as opposed to merely chasing stardom. He felt more like one of us than one of them.
Hoosiers, released in 1986, is a great example of what I’m talking about.
The American Film Institute rates the movie as one of the most inspiring of all time, as well as the fourth greatest sports movie ever. “It may adhere to the sports underdog formula,” opines the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ consensus, “but Hoosiers has been made with such loving craft, and features such excellent performances, that it’s hard to resist.”
Hackman famously thought the movie had the potential to end his career (one of many great details to be found in this oral history of the movie). His Coach Norman Dale gets a chance to direct the high school basketball program in a small Indiana town, but he struggles to develop a winning team. A star player is persuaded to quit and focus on his studies. The coach also raises eyebrows with his unconventional choice of notorious alcoholic Shooter as his assistant coach.
From his fiery locker room speeches to his clashes with players, and the way he incrementally steers them toward greatness, Hackman made Dale feel astonishingly real. And as a reminder that Hoosiers is as much a movie about life as it is basketball, one of the best scenes comes when the team arrives at the daunting gym where they’ll play the state finals. Dale, of course, has the players measure the court — reminding them that while it seems like a much bigger space, it’s the exact same size as their tiny gym back home.
It’s a great metaphor for helping the players conquer their fear. And a subtle reminder that the fundamentals of the game don’t change, even if the stakes do.
And then there’s the “I love you guys” scene.
In one of the film’s most memorable moments, during the locker room speech before the state championship game, Dale quietly tells his players, “I love you guys.” It’s a simple line, and Hackman’s voice catches just slightly as he says it. The way he delivers the line, with the weight of everything Dale has been through, makes it such an emotional and unforgettable moment. Scenes like this one haven’t lost any of their power to make you tear up, almost 40 years later.
Hackman’s Hollywood legacy stretches across dozens of great roles, from Popeye Doyle in The French Connection to the corrupt sheriff in Unforgiven. For me, though, his performance in Hoosiers towers above them all, partly because Hoosiers isn’t just a basketball movie. It’s a story about forgiveness, community, fathers, and sons. It’s about the importance of believing in something bigger than yourself.
He said it best himself during the famous locker room speech: “If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be… I don’t care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game — in my book, we’re gonna be winners.” However else the industry chooses to remember him, Hackman was a winner.
