MartinHafer
Pete Maravich was an amazing player--a guy whose college basketball average was a shade over 44 points per game! In the pros, he was also an amazing player and I was fortunate enough to be able to see him play when I was a kid. Unfortunately, Maravich died during a pick-up game when he was only 40--dead due to an undiagnosed heart ailment. This movie about his experience playing first year varsity basketball is a homage to his talents, though I think the man probably deserved a bit better than this.The boy playing Maravich, Adam Guier, was terrific. His ability to handle the ball made him a joy to watch. So why am I a bit cold about this movie? Well, the script and especially the style of the film are a bit wanting. The film too often relies on hip music, montages and clichés. Additionally, while I am sure Maravich was incredible at this age, the film never shows him once missing a shot...not even once out of several dozen shots!! This all work together to create a film that might entertain kids but which also just cannot be taken very seriously. Not a bad film...just not a very impressive one either.By the way, the choice of the narrator was interesting. Tom Lester (Eb Dawson from "Green Acres") was chosen and it did make me laugh to hear him speaking as the grown up Maravich.
cs0424
The guy from Chicago doesn't know what he's talking about. He is probably looking for special effects and watches too many star wars flicks. The movie is a great family film and I was captivated from beginning to end. The young Pete has a lot of talent too. The movie should motivate kids to shoot for the impossible and dreams can be realized as well. The movie was heartwarming and I liked the characters very much. The DVD also contains actual clips when he was a player and also has Pete's testimony as a born again Christian. He shares his faith and this is what is important to him. There are many other clips or extra's that give you a feel for what the man has accomplished and to understand how great an athlete he was.
ssalava
I mention the Omega Code because it is my personal benchmark of bad movies promoted by Christian ministries (i.e. Paul & Jan Crouch of TBN).I had never heard of this movie until recently receiving a promotional e-mail from the American Family Association (Don Wildmon), which by the way, had bad (404) links anyway.With the NBA finals going on, I decided to rent it from NetFlix. I have to agree with most of the comments from the last two posters and disagree with most of the comments from other admirers who must be suffering from 1 Corinthians 13:12 ('seeing dimly').The film was a big disappointment. The acting, writing, and more importantly -- the directing, was some of the worst I have seen. I had hoped to see a true biography of Maravich's life and accomplishments -- not a snapshot of one year (8th grade) in his life.Certainly none of the content is offensive in the movie (unless you consider 'butthead' vulgar), and if your child is involved in PIP and/or Upward Basketball, you'll recognize many of the drills.
stephenaug
The one-line summary above is not meant as a pun (he died of a heart condition), but is a true assessment of Pete's feeling for the game. This is a must-see movie for anyone who was a fan of basketball in the 70's. For anyone who wants to be inspired to use their god-given talents to the fullest - then, again, this is a must see movie.
AD
