I enjoy a good documentary so when I stumbled across this one I was optimistic. It takes about 20 minutes of this nearly 3 hour documentary to become indifferent to all of the main characters. The documentary's narrator goes out of his way attempting to draw empathy from the viewer but, at least to my wife and I, it falls flat. The story is about a few children that care not about getting educated, only about playing basketball. The parents and siblings don't make you want to like them either. The families all receive handouts and then have the audacity to complain that their handouts aren't adequate and the system isn't fair because they all deserve greater handouts. As a taxpayer, with a job, this movie is maddening. The parents should not have allowed their children to play any sports, hang out with anyone, or do anything else until their grades were adequate, but when the parents themselves are on welfare I guess their actions are to be expected.
Review of Hoop Dreams
