Watch That Championship Season

That Championship Season is a movie that was released in 1999 and directed by Paul Sorvino. The film is an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Jason Miller, and its cast includes Vincent D'Onofrio, Terry Kinney, Tony Shalhoub, and Gary Sinise. The film follows the story of four former high school basketball champions who reunite to celebrate their coach's eightieth birthday. However, their reunion takes an unexpected turn when long-buried secrets and resentments emerge, threatening to tear their friendship apart.

The movie opens with a view of Scranton, Pennsylvania, home to the high school where the four protagonists played basketball and won the state championship thirty years ago. The main characters are George Sitkowski (D'Onofrio), a philandering businessman; Tom Daley (Sinise), a drunkard who has lost his job as a coach; Phil Romano (Kinney), a car dealer with a controlling wife; and James Daley (Shalhoub), Tom's brother, who is now the town's mayor but struggles with his conscience. The coach, played by Robert Mitchum, is now elderly and frail, but still has an intimidating presence.

The story proper begins when Sitkowski invites the other three men to a celebratory dinner at his mansion. The tone is initially jovial, as the men reminisce about their glory days and bask in their shared achievements. However, it soon becomes clear that their relationships have soured over the years, and that they are all deeply unhappy in their own ways. The conversation turns to politics, with the conservative Sitkowski trying to convince the liberal James Daley to endorse a Republican candidate for governor. The argument gets heated, and it becomes clear that the old alliances are starting to crumble.

Over the course of the evening, each character reveals his own secrets and flaws. Tom Daley is bitter and resentful, a shell of his former self, and has a contentious relationship with his brother. Phil Romano is trapped in an unfulfilling marriage, and has resorted to spying on his wife. Sitkowski is having an affair with Daley's wife, and is using his wealth and power to control the others. James Daley is torn between his personal beliefs and his political ambitions, and struggles to reconcile the two.

As the night wears on and more alcohol is consumed, the tension builds to a climactic confrontation. The men confront each other about their past sins and betrayals, and fight physically. The coach, who has been mostly silent until this point, finally speaks up and delivers a powerful monologue about the nature of winning and losing. The men are forced to confront their own failures, and to question whether their championship season was truly a victory.

That Championship Season is a movie that explores themes of regret, nostalgia, and disillusionment. It paints a realistic and unglamorous portrait of small-town life, and of the struggles that come with aging and lost dreams. The performances of the cast are nuanced and powerful, and the script is tightly written and full of tension. The movie manages to stay true to the original play while making some interesting changes to update the story for a modern audience. Overall, it is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant film that stands the test of time.

That Championship Season is a 1999 drama with a runtime of 2 hours and 10 minutes. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.0.