so many films geared for the kids/family market end up being schmaltzy and silly and lose all realism and point and end up being a pile of mush. This film centers around Reggie who has dreams of being an NBA player but is clearly not good enough to make it into the school team. After a chance encounter on the way home with practice with the excellent gregory hines, he picks up a pair of sneakers that were worn many years ago by a basketball great. When Reggie wears them, he plays like a superstar and helps his team get to the schools finals. ALong the way, director Hines (who you are never completely certain if he is someone only reggie can see) creates a lot of realism in the inner city settings and the way the kids interact with each other. There is also a very good plot line about how the kids needed to improve math and reggie helped them do this by applying math examples on the basketball court. Vincent D'Onofrio's character as a seller of sneakers/procurer of local talent was the only poor link in the movie for me. What really made the movie at the end was the impressive hoops action in the final itself, it was shot in real time and there were some excellent sequences and baskets made. This is not just a movie for kids, this tale of morality and hope and dreams will appeal to all, a really good TV movie.
Review of The Red Sneakers
