My latest purchase is...

Hoop Dreams is easily one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. Hell, it's one of the best movies I've ever seen, period. If you have any interest in basketball on any level, you need to go get yourself a copy of this. Now. This movie came out in 1994, and I remember seeing it on the good old JU Channel way back when. It's stuck with me since. The real shame is that it took this long for it to finally make its way to DVD. It seems strange, but the movie seems almost more relevant in today's NBA landscape of high school prospects going as #1 picks (with the resulting monster contracts) than it was in '94.

The thing I like most is that Steve James, Frederick Marx & Peter Gilbert simply let the story develop, rather than forcing the material to work into whatever viewpoint they might have wanted to get across. That's a trap the majority of documentaries I've seen seem to fall into. In the wrong hands, we would only have one opinion about William Gates and Arthur Agee after seeing the film. The filmmakers show them as what they were. Nothing more, nothing less. Some people would see them as inner city kids with no other options and a whole lot of people looking to ride their coattails. Others might see them as tragic figures, denied millions of dollars by a ruthless professional sports system. You might see them as something else. The beauty is that we're given all sides of the story, and left to make our own decisions -- though I will admit that the business of sports and sports agents does not come out looking particularly rosy by the end of this.

If I were a high school basketball coach, my first practice would consist of nothing but sitting the kids down for the full 171 minutes and watching this film with them. True, it's going to tell them that it's possible -- and very likely -- that none of them will play in college. But this is something they need to hear. This movie can drum it into their heads better than I ever could. You know what else it's going to do, though? It's also going to show them that if they do want to succeed and move to the next level, love of the game isn't enough. It's a necessary component, but it's not everything. And sadly, no matter how much drive, no matter how much desire, if they don't have the talent, all they'll have are dreams, and nothing more. It's going to show them that no matter how good they are, and no matter how bad they are, they need to enjoy every single second they play. Because sooner or later it's going to be gone.

4 out of 4 stars. A truly amazing film.

I'll write more about the DVD another day, once I've checked out some of the special features. The commentary tracks -- one with the filmmakers, one with Agee and Green -- will take me some time to get through. I'm looking forward to it, though.