Coach

I found the DVD version of this movie at a rummage sale. The basic premise is an affair between a teacher/coach a student. The acting is weak and the plot razor thin.

This movie had all the depth and plot development of an adult film.

This movie is about a very sexy Olympic track star who is hired to coach a high school boys' basketball team. Similar to Goldie Hawn's WILDCATS, it stars Cathy Lee Crosby in the title role, and she does as about as well as the script allows. I think Racquel Welch would have been a better choice, but considering the film's apparent TV movie budget, they probably couldn't afford her. Cathy Lee does look great in every shot, but we never get to see her completely nude. The story is pretty predictable, to say the least, offering no surprises. A young and lucky Michael Biehn has the male lead role. He is the star on the team and also the love interest for Cathy Lee. Keenan Wynn has a few amusing scenes as the rich old man who runs the athletic program and doesn't think a woman should coach sports. This point is brought up throughout the film, and, needless to say, is dated. Ironically, Cathy Lee doesn't put her team through any unorthodox practice sessions; she doesn't do anything a male coach wouldn't do. There is a funny subplot involving a tall and not-so-bright player who undergoes hypnosis in order to pass his classes and play like pro basketball player Sydney Wicks. It looks like everyone had a good time making this film, but the only real reason to see it is for Cathy Lee Crosby. She's not that great an actress, but she has a dazzling smile, beautiful hair, and a very tan body.

A high school principal (Keenan Wynn) with a losing basketball team unwittingly hires a coach who turns out not only to be a gorgeous blond woman (Cathy Lee Crosby) but a catalyst for their new winning ways. Are you really surprised? Along the way a romance grows between the coach and the team's star player Jack (Michael Biehn). The police are never notified.

Packaged along with other Crown International Pictures as a grindhouse movie really does this film no service. This can easily be edited into a television movie of the week. Cathy Lee Crosby looks great as coach Randy Rawlings especially in her skimpy outfits but I expected more than mere titillation from an R-rated film. A side plot involving a dorky center who is hypnotized by his teammates into thinking he is former NBA player Sydney Wicks is the actual reason for the team's new success rather than Cathy Lee's coaching. Too much tease and not enough sleaze makes this a major disappointment.

In this offering, BCI paired COACH with "The Beach Girls" as a "Welcome to the Grindhouse double feature." This film hardly belongs in this category.

A losing basketball team, a curmudgeon school administrator (brilliantly played by Keenan Wynn); and, an illicit affair between the coach and a student about sums up this movie.

In addition, while the main characters, played by Cathy Lee Crosby and Michael Biehn, work hard to make the film work, the filmmakers really created something of a disappointment with COACH.

Cathy Lee Crosby's character works well with the team. First, she shows them who's the boss after her first practice. Then, she brings in outside talent, pro basketball player Sidney Wicks. Finally; and, perhaps fate-fully, she participates in their ribald sing-a-long on the bus.

By the way, how many times did Crown International Pictures use that Woody Guthrie "Hey Lolly Lolly" tune anyway? In any case, the acting on the part of the team members is capable as well as their basketball playing.

The score is heavy on the easy listening, romance ballads, which makes COACH seem syrupy. The only exception is the funky "Go Stallions GO," which played during the montage of their winning games. The music really served to heighten the intensity of the game play.

But in the end, it's "Jabberwocky, Jabberwocky, Jabberwocky" that saves the day.

Overall, the movie is pretty light-hearted; and, hard to hate. I give it a 5 out of 10 just for the e. e. cummings reference.

I watched this movie when I was a young lad full of raging hormones and it was about as sexy a movie as I had ever seen-or ever was to see. It may not have been a great movie. My guess is it wasn't. I don't really remember much about it, to tell you the truth. I only remember the sexual chemistry between Crosby and Biehn. No woman in ANY movie has ever done it for me as the unbelievably sexy Cathy did in this movie. I haven't seen it since that first time I caught it on TV in the 70s and I don't think I'd want to see it again since I'm sure it would be a disappointment-my hormones aren't as raging and I've become more jaded over the years. Still, when I think back on the shower scene I can still remember how great it felt way back when.

Added later: After watching the movie again, I discovered that it's dangerous to go home again. What was once erotic is now pretty tame. The older woman-younger man thing still works for me, just not as much as it once did, probably because I'm no longer eleven or twelve. That older woman is now younger than I am (although still quite sexy-Cathy was always the one doing the dangerous things on "That's Incredible"-beautiful, strong woman *sigh*). Also, the amateurishness of the whole thing wasn't perceived by my young mind.

Moral: Sometimes it's better not to revisit the past.