Basketball in many parts of the country is like religion, and Hoosiers, a 1986 film written by Angelo Pizzo and directed by David Anspaugh, is a clear homage to that sentiment. Set against an idyllic rural Indiana backdrop, Hoosiers traces the training of the team at the tiny Hickory High School for the state basketball championship. The film looks at first glance like the classic David versus Goliath sports movie, with a predictably familiar ending but, in this case, predictability neither lessens the impact of the drama, nor detracts from audience response to the emotions and feelings that are revealed on the screen.

Some very prominent actors were drawn to this small-budget production. Gene Hackman portrays Norman Dale, a former college coach who was fired for striking a player in a moment of rage. The troubled Dale, now head coach of the Hickory Huskers, has come to Indiana as...