Hardwood Dreams

Narrated by Wesley Snipes, Hardwood Dreams measures the distance between the dreams of inner-city L.A. black youth on the basketball court and the reality of streetlife, broken families, and the intensely competitive world of college and professional sports. Following Morningside High School's 1992-1993 basketball season, and their bid to take the state championship two years in a row, the film looks at the academic and social milieu that surrounds these wizards on the court and wonders about the wisdom of pinning all of one's hopes on the million-to-one shot at a lucrative professional contract. Working as a smoothly-oiled machine of unbelievable grace on the court, each of the Morningside starters faces his own personal Goliath: for Stais--a self-admitted ladies man--the offer of a scholarship to U.S.C. is part of the dream come true...except the scholarship is contingent on Stais' S.A.T. scores, which are well below the necessary 700 level; Dwight, a former gangbanger, struggles to keep his nose clean and maintain his position on the team; Sean, a straight-A student and captain of the team, is under 6-ft. and has yet to be offered a scholarship. As the team drives toward a storybook ending, and makes it into the final round of championship play, a surprising turn of events hampers Morningside's chances. Because the trouble comes from the least expected quarter, Hardwood Dreams reminds us that the stereotypes and conclusions based on this or that heap of statistics are often negated in the particular. An excellent film, this is a good companion piece to the superb video about women's basketball In the Game (VL-11/94). It's also sure to be quite popular, especially in light of the current critical acclaim for the documentary Hoop Dreams. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)