Failed college coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to coach a high school basketball team in a tiny Indiana town. After one of his teachers, Myra Fleener (Barbara Hershey) persuades star player Jimmy Chitwood (Maris Valainis) to quit and focus on his long-neglected studies, Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and his unconventional choice of assistant coach: Shooter (Dennis Hopper), a notorious alcoholic. Nominated for two Academy Awards in 1987: Best Supporting Actor (Dennis Hopper), Best Original score (Jerry Goldsmith).
