Hoop Dreams

A true Hall of Famer. Not just one of the best documentaries ever, but one of the very best films of the past two decades, with peripeteia you couldn’t script and characters you couldn’t cast. Thematically rich and emotionally deep, this story follows two black Chicago teenagers from 9th grade to college, while they and their families pin their hopes for betterment on basketball, through the cage, on the court, spinning around obstacles and leaping toward the goal. Meanwhile schools and colleges bid for a piece of the Magic, and are quick to discard broken dreams and limbs. Years in the making and a swift three hours of running time, the film is patiently observed and cannily edited. Eschewing the orthodoxies of talking heads or fly-on-the-wall verite, this documentary succeeds “by any means necessary.” Director Steve James is a true heir of Robert Flaherty, but top credit has to go to Arthur Agee and William Gates, who offer a fascinating retrospective commentary on this Criterion Collection DVD of the story of their growing up, on the court and off. An update was planned for this edition, but has developed into a full-fledged sequel -- I eagerly await it. (1994, dvd, r.) *9+*