THE REWATCHABLES · March 21, 2017
A 1994 sports / drama directed by William Friedkin, covered in the complete Rewatchables archive.
ON THIS EPISODE
FROM THE CONVERSATION
WHY IT WORKS
WHAT DID NOT WORK
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
The episode opens with the film's hype, including its early-90s buzz, Friedkin/Shelton pedigree, and promise of real basketball.
Opening minutesTitus laughs at the absurdity of Penny's character saying he cannot run the motion offense.
Opening minutesThe booster defends himself by pointing out NCAA hypocrisy, which the hosts see as both persuasive and self-serving.
About 8 minThe climax is seen as muddy and unsatisfying, especially the unclear last play and the media cheerleading afterward.
About 8 minThey love the scene of Bob Cousy calmly draining free throws during a locker-room / athletic-director exchange.
About 24 minThe reveal of point shaving is treated as comically fast and implausibly simple.
About 24 minThey think the late redemption scene with an older man teaching a child to shoot feels tacked on and odd.
About 8 minWHERE THEY DISAGREED
Bill SimmonsIt landed as a timely expose in 1994, before the internet and with less public knowledge.
Mark TitusIt was already obvious by the time he saw it; the revelations felt like 'well, duh'.
Bill SimmonsPete Bell seems intended as the hero, but he is hard to root for.
Mark TitusThe film never really gives a convincing hero because the coach is too compromised.
Bill SimmonsA more charismatic star like Pacino, Nicholson, Hackman, or maybe Baldwin/Douglas could work better.
Mark TitusNick Nolte is okay but not the ideal charismatic lead for the role.
Mark TitusThe film should either be more campy or more accurate; the middle ground is frustrating.
Bill SimmonsThe real-game approach was innovative but may have been a mistake.
Bill SimmonsSuggests several possibilities and wants broader variety.
Mark TitusFavors Hoosiers but also suggests other titles like Mighty Ducks 2.
Calls it an underrated classic and a Sports Movie Hall of Famer, but not a Rewatchable Hall of Famer.
Opening minutesMocks the film's basketball realism, especially the claim that Penny Hardaway cannot run a motion offense.
Opening minutesSays he is not sure Pete Bell works as a hero and that the movie lacks a clear moral center.
About 8 minArgues that by 1994 the movie's corruption reveal was already obvious to basketball insiders.
About 8 minTreats the booster as a strong argument against NCAA hypocrisy, even while noting his obvious villain status.
About 8 minSays the film is too close to authentic basketball to feel fun, but still wrong in key details.
Opening minutesComplains the climax is weak, the last play is unclear, and the press conference feels like punishment rather than triumph.
About 8 minSays the film got Knight's reputation wrong by portraying him as constantly raging instead of mostly controlled.
About 8 minThinks the Bob Cousy free-throw sequence is the movie's best basketball scene.
About 24 minArgues the concept would work better stretched into a multi-season series than as a single movie.
About 32 minShares a personal story about being kept away from recruits and says he respected Matta's blunt explanation.
About 32 minSuggests a more morally compromised actor would better fit a hypothetical remake of the coach role.
About 40 minThe episode frames the movie as an early-90s expose of NCAA payoffs, boosters, and point shaving.
About 8 minThe hosts keep comparing what the film gets right to what it distorts about real college hoops.
Opening minutesThey see Blue Chips as inheriting the Bob Knight and Hoosiers mythos while also undercutting it.
About 16 minThe booster argument turns into a broader critique of rich donors, shoe money, and unpaid players.
About 8 minThey note that in 1994 the public had less immediate information, so the movie landed differently.
About 8 minThe movie was released in February 1994 and was shot before the broader internet era made college-basketball recruiting more transparent.
Opening minutesThe film used real college players and real basketball footage rather than fully choreographed game scenes.
Opening minutesThe hosts say Bob Cousy making ten straight free throws was not scripted in advance.
About 24 minTitus says he was the only Ohio State player never allowed to host recruits.
About 32 minThe episode mentions that Bob Knight shadowed Nick Nolte for preparation, and that IU then reached the Final Four that season but never again under Knight afterward.
About 16 minThey claim the movie includes actual real-life college players such as Rick Fox, Rodney Rogers, Alan Houston, George Lynch, and Travis Ford.
About 24 minBill says a Coastal Carolina coach later admitted infractions after watching Blue Chips and feeling guilty.
About 40 min · medium confidenceCited as another William Friedkin film when introducing the director.
Opening minutesAlso named as a Friedkin credit.
Opening minutesUsed as a comparison for how a sports film can still love its subject while criticizing it.
Opening minutesReferenced as Ron Shelton's earlier basketball movie and a stylistic comparison.
Opening minutesUsed repeatedly as the dominant basketball-movie benchmark and as a source of Blue Chips echoes.
About 16 minMentioned as another candidate for best sports movie at one point.
About 16 minReferenced as JT Walsh's best-known performance comparison.
About 8 minUsed as evidence that later reporting made NCAA realities more obvious to the hosts.
Opening minutesUsed to describe the basketball footage as feeling like broadcast highlights rather than cinema.
About 24 minCompared as another film with a point-shaving / gambling section.
About 24 minReferenced when Bill recalls cable-era mini-promos explaining the Cousy scene.
About 24 minSuggested as a future sports-movie candidate.
About 40 minSuggested as a future sports-movie candidate.
About 40 minSuggested as a future sports-movie candidate.
About 40 minDebated as a future sports-movie pick, with criticism of its plot choice to paralyze a character.
About 40 minTitus jokes that he watches the film like a scientist spotting near-misses in basketball accuracy.
Opening minutesThe motion-offense line becomes a running example of the movie's basketball ignorance.
Opening minutesThey generalize Mary McDonnell's role into a broader sports-movie stereotype.
About 24 minThey pitch a new version as a Netflix series with updated recruiting and corruption mechanics.
About 32 minThe hosts keep circling back to Hoosiers as the key comparison for basketball-movie greatness.
About 16 min“the uncanny valley of college basketball”Opening minutes
“This is a Sports Movie Hall of Famer”Opening minutes
“Who can't run the motion offense?”Opening minutes
“the best basketball scene in this entire movie”About 24 min
“The movie has the most contempt for its subject”Opening minutes
MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Three movies to watch before Blue Chips, and three to watch next.
ON THE MIC
Bill SimmonsThe Rewatchables
Chris RyanThe RewatchablesREWATCH FAVS
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