The Winning Season (2009)

A comedy centered on a has-been coach who is given a shot at redemption when he's asked to run his local high school's girls basketball team. The Winning Season might been focused on a team of girls that play basketball it's actually more than just that it's a film about a has- been coach that doesn't only try to seek redemption and help this girls but he also tries to help himself he is divorced and he doesn't get along with his daughter or his ex-wife that much, one of the girls tries to understand what love is and another ends up with the wrong guy. It's a comedy and there are some pretty funny scenes especially Sam Rockwell's dancing but there's also a lot of dramatic parts that will captivate you more and get you even more interested to the story and overall i can say that this film was quite better than your average sports movie. (A+)

Terry (Rob Corddry) is the high school principal and he invites his old classmate Bill Greaves (Sam Rockwell) back to coach girls' basketball. He's a drunk busboy. He tries to reconnect to his daughter from his failed marriage. He's still struggling with his past basketball dreams. The girls' team isn't any good and has only 6 girls with 1 on crutches. The school bus driver Donna (Margo Martindale) helps out.It's an odd mix of Rockwell playing a slacker indie and the girls doing a fun underdog sports movie. It doesn't always mix well but there are enough good parts. The characters are likable. There is some fun with the girl drama clashing with Rockwell. Rooney Mara and Emma Roberts play two of the girls. Emma is the more compelling actress. It's reminiscent of 'Bad News Bears' with a drunken Walter Matthau.

At least "The Winning Season" knows that the whole down-on-his-luck coach and group of misfit girls basketball team who learn about life and winning together type of story has been done before. They did unfortunately follow the exact same formula, but with a hint of whimsy and self-awareness, it's above average for the genre.Emma Roberts and the other girls comprising the team actually come across as real teenage girls. I found them cute and funny. As a big fan of Sam Rockwell, he seems to be the reason why this film is pretty good. He's basically a drunken asshole, very unlikable, but he completely draws you in so there's a real emotional connection for the dramatic elements. And as he has demonstrated before, his physical comedy antics are perfect making the comedy scenes pretty funny."The Winning Season" has been done many times before, but here they managed to do it without being cheesy, while providing quality scenes of drama and comedy. If you like the genre, it is certainly worth a look.

I saw The Winning Season at Sundance. It was sweet and heartwarming. Sam Rockwell is the lead and he does a good job playing the Bad New Bears like coach. The winner here is Emma Roberts. I am admittedly a fan so I am biased. But I do wish there was more Emma in this film. That was my only disappointment. Otherwise it is a typical feel good film with all the big moments you would expect. Nicely done. I am not a big sports fan so maybe it didn't resonate with me as much as I would have liked. But in Sundance you never know what to expect when walking into a film. This was definitely an interesting film to play but I lean more towards the more realistic films in general. The films that are really great but never make it to my town. This one, I have a feeling will be seen by many.