Soul in the Hole

Like Hoop Dreams, Soul in the Hole follows the real life trials and tribulations of young black men that struggle through everyday life on the streets, using basketball as an outlet. With incredible footage of playground games-with all the flashy moves, jukes, and dunks-and the paths that these young players take.Booger Smith has an extreme handle on the ball and court, but off is troubled by his past and the lure of the streets.Players like Charles Johnson exemplify what it takes to conquer the streets and represent Brooklyn by making it to college and ultimately the NBA.Definitely one the best basketball movies ever, true to the Brooklyn style and flavor.

It's arguably better than Hoop Dreams. That said, it's about Kenny Jones, his playground dream team "Kenny's Kings," his relationships between him and his players, particularly, playground phenom, 18 yr old Ed "Booger" Smith, and life in Brooklyn during the summer of 1993. It's not all about a game. While Hoop Dreams is about an American Dream in the lives of two teens in Chicago, this one is about real life on the streets of America. It's more realistic and raw, from its language, to its soundtrack alone. Of course, it's very much about basketball, and the emotion involved when competing (note the first scene). It is a completely non-critical, fast paced film which should be seen by basketball lovers everywhere.

This movie got me staying up to see it tll the early morning hours. it takes you inside a hard core new york ghetto neighbourhood, and it really is INSIDE. i was certain that the film maker must be one of th gang, it being such an intimate movie, and was very surprised that its a female director which i suspect is an outsider to this world.

She really managed to get the viewer to see and hear the truth of the characters. and what can i say, these guys, black guys from new york, are incredible characters. the way the move and talk, the great basketball being played out, and the touching relationships between them.

anyway - great film, and great camera and sound work!

As is usual when opinions are as polarized as two below, the truth lies somewhere in between.

This is a rushed-feeling, over-long, rather incoherent film that lets us experience a fascinating aspect of American life by watching a year in the mentor-student (and almost father-son) relationship of two passionate, opinionated, talented, striving and tragically flawed men.

It is worth watching because the intertwined stories of Kenny and Booger will teach you things about life and love, coping and forgiving, failure and success. It is, however, extremely poorly edited, telling you far more than you want to about many things and far less than you should about others.

I predict that SOUL IN THE HOLE is a film you will WANT to like better than you actually DO, an often fascinating, but ultimately frustrating experience.

Very good film. I thought it wasn't a film, but a documentary/film because the characters seemed to be real people. Is this a fictional movie or not? It's about basketball, the streets, lousy upbringings, and the pressures of success.

If you are a kung fu film fan, you probably have seen this film advertised on Arena video tapes in the previews and coming attractions.