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Grace Is Gone Director James C. Strouse Directing Basketball Drama

by Alex Billington
August 29, 2008
Source: MTV

Last year, filmmaker James C. Strouse (seen above) made a triumphant debut with a film called Grace Is Gone, an incredibly heart-wrenching drama that became a huge Sundance hit. Unfortunately it flopped in its theatrical debut, but I'll admit it was well-made. I don't think the film was a masterpiece by any means, but it was good and at least well-directed, which is what counts here. Strouse's next project has been unknown, until Sam Rockwell revealed the details to MTV recently. The currently untitled film will star Rockwell as an alcoholic basketball coach of a girl's high school basketball team. After writing about that Slap Shot remake, I'm not sure we're in need of another basketball movie. Am I wrong?

Rockwell told MTV that he's "researching a basketball movie" and that's it not exactly the typical basketball movie that you may think of. Instead, "It's kind of like Bad News Bears meets Half Nelson meets Hoosiers. [But at the center is this] great character. [In preparation] I'm learning about basketball and Bobby Knight." The coach he's referring to, Bobby Knight, has won more NCAA basketball games than any other head coach. He has coached teams at Indiana University, the United States Military Academy, and Texas Tech before retiring earlier this year. Is it safe to say this movie is inspired by Bobby Knight? With Rockwell's eclectic references, I can't really imagine this being a drama about an inspirational coach, but time will tell.

One thing is for sure - we do not need any more football movies, considering there are about five of them coming out by the end of this year. But as for basketball movies? Well I can't really remember any in recent years that stuck out, which could be a bad thing, but with Sam Rockwell attached and James C. Strouse directing, maybe this will be pretty damn good. Actually there is one - Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro. I thought it was good, but not amazing, and considering most hated it, I'm not sure too many people want another basketball movie. I'll leave that discussion up to all of you, because I'm not too big of a basketball fan to really voice my opinion. Does this basketball movie sound like something unique?

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