Believe in Me

This is an excellent book/video that should be seen by every athlete, girl or boy, and those who coach them. The movie is full of action, yet tasteful enough that you can show it to young people. I visited with the actual coach of this team and he unsuccessfully fought to keep the six-on-six style of play in the movie. He requested to keep the book name and the movie name the same but that was nixed, also. I agree that for those of us who played this way, it was disappointing to watch the girls play five on five. I graduated in 1977 from a school about 30 miles from Sayre, where Coach wrote the story about. The movie is full of action, yet tasteful enough that you can show it to young people. Basketball ROCKS in southwest OKLAHOMA!!!!!

Before PCSing to Japan, my family and I were delighted to serve as extras in the shooting of this movie filmed, in part, in Clovis and Portales, New Mexico.

We were pleasantly surprised and impressed with the professionalism and yet the down to earth manner in which the cast and crew conducted themselves during the entire "shoot" in New Mexico. The character and demeanor of the entire cast and crew, off screen, is reflected in the heartwarming finished product. This is a film that we can highly recommend for all ages, as it is based upon factual events, exciting and at times riveting in its action.

We anxiously await the public release of this film.

This is a great family movie and a great movie for teachers to see. It especially hits home for teachers, who are of course, coaches, but also those classroom teachers who have the same relational interactions as coaches like choir teachers (me), band directors, and the like.

The casting was excellent. I did not feel that I was watching actors, but actual people. Bruce Dern did his role so well, you really despised him. (I didn't realize he was THAT old already. I guess I'M that old already!) The girls were believable, the coach was well acted, the wife was a natural pairing for him--all very good acting. I, like you, can't stand cheesy "docudramas." You will want to watch the "making of" special features. You will have a pleasant surprise about the winning shot in the movie.

I highly, highly, recommend this movie. I have been encouraging my colleagues and all my students to rent it.

When I first heard about this movie what intrigued me most was that it was about a legendary basketball coach from Oklahoma...my home state. At first I thought it might be a Hoosier's formula movie, but after watching it for the first time, I realized that it stood on its own merits as a great story about dedication, trust, and how believing in yourself and having someone else believe in you can transform lives to inspirational levels. It is a moving story where a rag-tag group of small-town girls basketball players begin to believe in themselves because their coach believed in them. It is one of those "stand up and cheer" movies that will leave you feeling inspired...you will find yourself cheering for those girls.

I just saw this movie at the Jackson Hole Film Festival and I was impressed for the quality of the photography, the story and the acting. The storyline is very simple: in the 60's a young basketball coach moves to small town Oklahoma to coach the male team of the local high school but he's rerouted instead to the female team. He's totally against it but he has no choice, while he gains the respect and support of the girls, the town folks take a dislike for him because of his methods and because in their mind a girls team is not worth of interest. Through a series of victories, for the team and for the girls, he will make his basketball team a well respected one in town and among the competing high schools. I hope they will find a good distributor for this movie; this would be the feel-good movie of the year. Plus I met Robert (the Director) on several occasions during the festival and he's such a nice and heartwarming guy, I wish him much success (Hey Robert, I'm the one who drove you to the Casino Night from the Amangani ;-) ). One thing... I'm surprised that on IMDb men liked this movie more than women, very strange.