Blue Chips

This one was requested and I’m happy to oblige because I do like blue chips, especially with some salsa and maybe to help scoop up a bit of chili.  You can cover them with all sorts of other food like cheese, jalapenos, olives, sour cream, etc.  A blue chip is a versatile food and was even used as a movie title.

The film it’s named after doesn’t really have anything to do with food and is instead about college basketball.  Nick Nolte (48 Hrs., Cape Fear (1991)) plays head coach Pete Bell and his character is supposed to be sorta like Bobby Knight (who actually makes an appearance as the opposing coach during the final game, and I should tell you right now that a lot of famous basketball figures make appearances throughout the movie).  He yells at the referee, pushes his players hard and even does his own version of throwing-a-chair-onto-the-court by one upping it and kicking a basketball into the stands.  He’s a tough sonuvabitch but gosh darn it he’s a good coach that never cheated.  Well that is until now.

In order to get a winning team together Pete goes around the country recruiting young players and visits Penny Hardaway (actual NBA player), Matt Nover (ended up playing ball in Europe) and Shaq (actual NBA player and actor).  Penny and Matt want something in return for playing for Bell.  Bell outright refuses at first and gets confronted by Happy played by J.T. Walsh (The Negotiator, Breakdown).  I never got a good handle on who Happy is exactly but he just appears to be some rich dude that likes to buy players for college sports teams and gamble on them guaranteeing that he’ll win.  He’s by far the best character in the film because Walsh is so good at playing an asshole, especially an angry asshole.  Happy has all the best lines and Walsh delivers them perfectly like, “my money is untraceable.  It’s been washed, scrubbed, laundered within an inch of its life” and “I screw a helluva lot better when I’m winning, don’t you?”

So after Pete gets his players he has a little buyer’s remorse because his conscience tells him that what he’s doing is illegal.  It's that whole he's-become-what-he-hates thing.  He wants to win really badly but is unsure if this is the way to do it.  At the end Pete gives a great long winded speech to his players and then to the press about life and how we treat athletes and so on.  This is way better than the speech at the end of Any Given Sunday because Nolte seems more believable as a coach than Pacino.  Of course he’s entertaining as a straight laced coach battling against several imposing forces but c’mon guys, did you think for a second that Al Pacino knew anything about football?

The director for this piece of art is William “Billy the kid” Friedkin (To Live and Die in L.A.) and he’s all about thrills and action.  But he must love college basketball because this is a different type of gig for him.  And he did a damn good job making even scouting potential players exciting.  When Pete goes to see Shaq play in some barn or warehouse or wherever the fuck he is it’s like he’s discovered Jesus himself making dunk after sweet dunk.  Friedkin’s made some real kick ass movies in the past and this is up there with his best work.  He makes basketball accessible and engrossing for those that are both not terribly interested in the sport and those that know it very well.  I think this film works for and pleases many parties.     

Now I’m gonna lay all my cards on the table and confess that I don’t know dick about college basketball…or basketball in general really.  The only sport I know anything about is baseball but as far as I could tell that’s not what this picture is really about.  And I think I should say that it would be nice to have some basic understanding of basketball to fully get this one.  For fans and non fans alike I think it’s appreciated that this movie doesn’t hold back on how it treats the sport.  It’s sort of reminds me of that Michael Crichton movie Coma where they talk in medical terms throughout the whole thing and don’t seem to worry that the audience won’t understand it.  It makes the film feel authentic and not like it was written by some screenwriter who has no knowledge of medicine.  They decided to show how doctors really talk to each other and in Blue Chips they also didn’t want to insult the audience’s intelligence and decided to show how basketball coaches really talk to their players and their colleagues.  Some might get lost in all the jargon but I find it both interesting and stimulating how professionals talk to each other and what language they use.

Many people compare this movie to The Program and I can see the similarities because both deal with corruption, flawed players and confused coaches.  But the focus in Blue Chips is more on the coach and corruption while The Program deals with the players and coming of age (I was gonna go with “finding yourself” but that phrase always sounded so bullshitty to me).  Of the two I think Blue Chips is clearly the better film here.  I found myself on the edge of my seat throughout the picture and Happy is what makes it for me.  He’s just so outright evil that I can’t help but marvel at how comfortable he is with it.  Nolte does a pretty damn good Bobby Knight impersonation and you yearn for those moments when he blows up and yells at everyone.  He also looks so pathetic when he gets sad and regretful that I wanted to pop myself into the picture and tell him that everything is gonna be alright.  To top it all off the basketball playing in here is just about the most cinematic and intense you’ll see outside of White Men Can’t Jump or Teen Wolf.  Even if you’re mildly interested in basketball or corruption movies you’ll probably enjoy this one.  It’s very re-watchable and several times I’ve found myself sitting down for a chunk of it if I see it playing on TV.  You can’t really go wrong with this one.