This week’s Under the Radar spotlights “Blue Chips,” a 1994 drama/sports film directed by William Friedkin. Graphic credit: Kyle Quinlan
Under The Radar is a weekly film column that highlights underappreciated and overlooked movies of the past.
“Blue Chips” (1994)
Genre: Drama/Sports
Starring: Nick Nolte, Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway
Director: William Friedkin
Replica jerseys, merchandise and sponsorships were all profit streams collegiate athletes could never touch — despite their efforts driving the sales — until it became legal for them to profit off their name, image and likeness in 2021.
Jumping into the time machine that is “Blue Chips” gives viewers a glimpse into the shady recruitment tactics college programs once used to land top prospects.
Once a beloved college basketball coach, Pete Bell (Nick Nolte) is facing scrutiny from local fans and employers alike due to his recent inability to put up a winning season. Recruitment is the only way Bell can rebuild his program and regain the community’s loyalty, though the process of headhunting college freshmen is not exactly squeaky clean when it comes to money and morals.
Neon (Shaquille O’Neal), Butch (Penny Hardaway) and Ricky (Matt Nover) are the top prospects who Bell believes can save his program and job, but their willingness to join the team without pay is uncertain.
Having always been an ethical coach in the realms of recruiting and gameplay, Bell comes face to face with the shady behind-the-scenes activities of collegiate athletic recruitment.
Taking home Best Picture for “The French Connection” in 1972 and traumatizing society with “The Exorcist” in 1973, director William Friedkin takes off for an alley-oop into the world of hoops, and — spoiler alert — successfully throws the hammer down.
Why “Blue Chips” is a Must-Watch
This dynamic film not only provides laughs and exciting basketball sequences but also raises thought-provoking questions surrounding the college sports system.
Whether it’s Coach Boone from “Remember the Titans” or Mickey from “Rocky,” I’m a sucker for the complicatedly tough coach character. And “Blue Chips” delivers with Nolte’s charmingly erratic performance as good-hearted head coach Bell.
Opening “Blue Chips” with a nuclear monologue in which Bell loses his mind in the locker room and throws an assortment of items at his players, Nolte is consistently comedic while still bringing a realistic edge to the movie.
Basketball isn’t always a glamorous display of athleticism; it is often riddled with swearing, grown men throwing mini-tantrums when they lose and more grizzly behavior Nolte embodies to a tee — undoubtedly a result of the actor shadowing “The General” himself, Indiana’s godlike coach Bobby Knight, who actually makes a cameo appearance in the film.
Even the practice sequences are amazing. Watching Nolte post up O’Neal and instruct the eventual three-time NBA-finals MVP to “attack the rim harder” is simply hilarious.
Watching young O’Neal and Hardaway attempt to act out basketball just as their legendary NBA careers were blossoming is truly fun to watch. These two, especially O’Neal, glow with ’90s-style charisma and have their fair share of on-court mixtape moments.
Even if the film’s plot drags at times, its constant “I Spy” game of spotting basketball greats will keep viewers smiling as they encounter big names like Rick Pitino, Dick Vitale and Larry Legend.
The Reception, The Legacy
IMDb: 6.3/10
Letterboxd: 3.2/5
Budget: $35 million
Worldwide Box Office: $26.7 million
Receiving lackluster critical reviews upon release and turning little profit at the box office, “Blue Chips” seems to be a mediocre sports movie that some loved but most forgot about.
Nevertheless, “Blue Chips” has evolved into a distinct portrait of college-level basketball, removing emphasis from the literal gameplay and instead focusing on recruitment violations and money scandals that have corrupted the sport.
From a narrative standpoint, many sport-centered movies have historically been formulaic and predictable. Including recycled storylines and tropes like the underdog winning the big game or the hotshot learning there’s no “i” in “team” are by no means a surefire way to ruin a film — look at “Hoosiers” and “Rocky IV” — but they can taste a little stale over time.
“Blue Chips” avoids the tropes and overused plots filmgoers have seen before. Incorporating hints of 2011’s “Moneyball,” Friedkin sheds some rare light on off-court politics to create a fresh product.
In terms of on-court politics, the movie’s cast of authentic basketball players is a huge pro. They get physical and make moves no actor could impersonate, like O’Neal’s effortless dunks.
Unable to hide actors beneath helmets and pads, basketball is an especially difficult sport to phone in on screen, as actors’ and body doubles’ sub-par athleticism is blatantly obvious. “Blue Chips” sidesteps all ridiculous cuts and cheesy moves by using real hoopers who don’t need 10 takes to make a layup.
Ultimately, “Blue Chips” deserves a place in the upper echelon of basketball films, offering a watch that is equal parts amusing and constructive.
Similar Movies
In addition to “Blue Chips,” 1994 dished out several more movies that have lived on in basketball fans’ hearts.
“Above the Rim” tells a high-school-hooper story that explores the world of streetball and crime in gang-riddled New York City. It’s “All Eyez” on the cigar-chomping Tupac Shakur, playing drug kingpin Birdie, in this admittedly dated and lovably corny film.
“Hoop Dreams” is a critically acclaimed documentary that follows two Chicago teenagers and their journey through social, economic and basketball-centric barriers. In his “The Best 10 Movies of 1994” list, famed film critic Roger Ebert awarded “Hoop Dreams” the No. 1 spot, notably beating out “Pulp Fiction” and “Forrest Gump,” his respective third and fourth place picks.
Directed by Spike Lee, 1998’s “He Got Game” sees Denzel Washington and Ray Allen portray a complicated father-son relationship, where the game of basketball will help determine Denzel’s prison sentence.
For another aggressive and stern character like Bell, check out Samuel L. Jackson’s poignant performance in “Coach Carter.”
Bonus recommendation: “Blue Chips” writer Ron Shelton also wrote and directed a couple of other sports-genre classics: baseball-centered “Bull Durham” starring Kevin Costner and the immortalized “White Men Can’t Jump” with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson.
Up next on Under The Radar: To ease back into the hardships of a new semester, “Tell everybody I’m on my way” as we revisit an undervalued Disney movie.
