Cheap Blue Chips (Video) (William Friedkin) Price

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Customer Reviews of Blue Chips

Probably the best sports movie ever
I'm a very good basketball player, let's get that straight right off the top, but this movie is as close as you will ever get to capturing the essence of top shelf hoops. Odds are that you will never get to see me play hoops in person, so I would go for this DVD. There are several things I look for in a great movie and this one includes all of them. <
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>1. Superstar actors- Nick Nolte answers the call here. Nolte is a whacked out hippie who, through a witness protection program, ends up coaching a college basketball powerhouse. He is as intense as Bo Pelini on a pixie stick binge after losing to Kst at home. He is totally believable as a big time college basketball coach. The play he draws up in the Indiana game, an alley oop with time running out to Leon Boodeaux(Shaquille O'Neal), would totally work against a Bobby Knight coached team. I thought Dennis Hopper was awesome as the assistant with issues. <
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>2. Hot chicks- I love Katie Holmes and you do too. She is totally awesome in the movie as Penny Hardaway's girlfriend. How Penny deals with Katie's pregnancy along with running the point of a fictional basketball team shows his true range. How he did not get an oscar nod after this performance is still debated to this day at your house. <
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>3. Great supporting cast- Matt Nover has always been an A list hollywood star and this film cemented him as one of the top leading men out there. You really feel like he is not going to Western unless his dad gets a tractor. You want his dad to get that tractor, you NEED his dad to get that tractor. Well, I'm not going to spoil it for you but his dad gets the tractor. You kind of get mad at Matt Nover because you feel he is responsible for the program getting in trouble, but his speech at the end about the problems his uncle dealt with growing up in Central Tennessee kind of makes you feel for the kid. <
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>4. Sunny weather in the background- There are several points in this movie where the sun is out. If it is raining all of the time, no one really feels that good about things. If you put some sunshine in equation, life is just better. This movie features the sun on more than one occasion. <
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>5. Livestock- There is a point in this film where you see a cow. That can't be all bad. <
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>6. Bobby Knight- Bobby Knight plays the basketball coach of Indiana University in this movie. You really believe he is a coach in this film and not just a reality TV star like he is now. What is Bobby Knight? Warm and adorable as always. <
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>Overall, this movie sums up college athletics more than anything I have ever seen. The booster guy named happy is kind of a dork, but the lesson learned here is that if you have money you get what you want. That is totally true. Combine my bankroll with my looks and you quickly see why the deck is stacked against you. I'm the final four and you are Barry Collier's NCAA tournament history.

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Again, Nolte Lives the Role
There's one thing that puts Blue Chips one star above my usual 2-star rating for a guilty pleasure -- Nick Nolte! He absolutely rises above what is a disappointingly predictable script by Ron Shelton (Bull Durham) with mostly pedestrian direction by William Friedkin. <
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>The explosive, and ultimately somewhat comical opening scene in the locker room sets the stage for Coach Pete Bell's competitive demons to vie with his better angels for dominance where winning means everything -- big time collegiate basketball. While all the characters here seem to be drawn from all-too-familiar stereotypes, especially the slimy and corrupt alumni booster (J.T. Walsh) and the young recruits from relatively poor backgrounds (Shaquille O'Neal, Anfernee Hardaway, and Matt Nover), Nolte makes the role of Coach Bell singular in every way. Along the way we meet the likes of ex-NBA great Bob Cousy as the equally torn college athletic director as well as Coach Bell's friend and confidant; along with the likes of former players Larry Bird and Marques Johnson in fictional roles, real-life college coaches Jerry Tarkanian, Bobby Knight, Rick Pitino, and others. <
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>I suppose what leaves a cynical taste is the utter lack of scruples displayed by so many, but especially the under-privileged parents of two of the recruits; they're more-than-willing participants in what Coach Bell feels he has to do in order to compete, making the whole exercise feel too legitimate in a "real world" sense. While the coach agonizes, the parents and recruits readily acquiesce. Still, Nolte strikes the right tone in it all. <
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>Blue Chips is a film worth watching for its methodical, and in Nolte's hands, entertaining depiction of college basketball recruiting. Mary McDonnell as the coach's ex-wife makes an attractive, intelligent, but unwitting anti-foil to Nolte's various schemes to push the letter of the rules just a little bit further, helping him procure the team that rises above the mediocre and reaches the sublime. <
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> While the second half of the story is mostly predictable and the message of redemption heavy-handed and contrived, the ending in the playground does indeed resonate. It's a good rental for an evening's entertainment for those who enjoy relevant sports movies, and especially for those who like seeing Nick Nolte play a role to the hilt.

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NOLTE RULES!!
Nolte is pissed in this movie as usual! Awesome acting! Shaq is atrociuos. ANFERNEE Hardaway sucks! Nolte should have hit Eddie Murphy with the basketball aka Reggie Hammond just like in 48 Hours instaed of kicking it into the stands hahahaha...