BLUE CHIPS. Directed by William Friedkin; written by Ron Shelton; produced by Michele Rappaport for Paramount. Starring Nick Nolte, Mary McDonnell and Shaquille O'Neal. Rated PG-13.
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In addition to having some wowie-zowie basketball footage, Blue Chips is also a thoughtful parable for a sports-crazy society.
These two elements of the story don't always work together smoothly. And fans of one kind of movie might not enjoy the "other parts" so much. But a strong performance by Nolte, with appealing help from O'Neal, McDonnell and most of the rest of a large supporting cast makes Blue Chips solid entertainment.
Pete (Nolte) is the excitable coach of a college team with a winning tradition and a mediocre current record. Part of the problem is a lack of "blue-chippers"—first-class recruits. Unfortunately, these sought-after young men usually go where the money flows freely under the table. And Pete is determined to run a clean program.
But when he gets a look at the latest trio of phenoms (one of whom is O'Neal; another one is Penny Hardaway), and realizes the offers they'll be getting from less fastidious coaches, he's sorely tempted. He hates cheating, but he hates losing almost as much.
Nolte is completely believable in what must have been an enjoyable role for him. Even the most outlandish actors rarely get to chew the scenery as spectacularly as a basketball coach arguing with a referee. Nolte's terrific in these scenes, and handles the more contemplative, conflicted side of the coach almost as well.
O'Neal is a pleasant surprise, joining a rather small company of outstanding athletes who actually don't embarrass themselves on the movie screen. It will be fun to see what other movies he may show up in.
If you don't enjoy basketball, you should skip Blue Chips, in spite of the story's wider moral implications, because the game is at the heart of the movie. Director Friedkin wanted his game footage to be really topnotch basketball, and he went to great lengths to assure this. Casting athletes who can act (a little) instead of actors who can play (a little) was a start. Also, the games were filmed in a large high-school gym in Indiana with real, rabid hoops fans in the audience. All the teams feature athletes with impressive resumes, and the games were played straight, with no interference from the cameras recording the action. Later, the footage was edited to fit the story. The result is exciting, realistic basketball. And a good sports movie.
March 9, 1994