This 1994 documentary is the story of two African-American high school boys from poor neighborhoods in Chicago who hope to make it in professional basketball.  It is an absorbing story of the hopes and dreams of youngsters seeking to improve their lives and the obstacles that they faced.  It is also a case study of people living in the underclass, and it shows how the problems of poverty affect them on a human level.  It should be required viewing for anyone who wants to intelligently discuss politics and policy of the problems of the poor, on any side of the issues.  

The film focuses on the lives of two boys, William Gates and Arthur Agee.  It begins when they are ready to enter high school and follows them for four years until graduation.  The boys are basically well adjusted and happy, with disarmingly sunny smiles.  At the beginning of the film, both are spotted by basketball talent scouts as promising players.  They are recruited by St. Joseph's, a Catholic parochial school.  The coach of the school is looking for the next Isaiah Thomas, the school's most illustrious alumnus.  Both of these boys idolize this player and are thrilled by the opportunity.  

However, their personal lives keep intruding on their dreams.  Gates receives a scholarship and attends St. Joseph's for four years, although it means a long daily commute.  Agee is forced to drop out and his family has to pay all outstanding tuition, even though his father is laid off from his job.  Agee continues to play basketball for the varsity team of a public school.

It is hard to say which one of them is better off.  Gates, pushed by the driven coach, said, "Basketball is my ticket out of the ghetto.  It became more of a job."  He doesn't play for the fun of it, and he is haunted by a knee injury that requires surgery.  Agee still wants to be a professional and does well on his team.  He only does enough work to get by, though, and he struggles to graduate.  Between the two of them, their families deal with the problems of single-parent families, welfare, drugs, spouse abuse, and teen-age pregnancy.

The documentary has a few cliff-hanger basketball championships.  In terms of the future prospects of the boys, though, more is at stake from a few points on academic achievement tests than in basketball games.   That could be the most surprising aspect of the film, since it would never be found in a fictional movie.

Hoop Dreams was the subject of some controversy at the Academy Awards.  The film was well received by many critics, including being selected as one of the best movies of 1994 (not just the best documentary) by Siskel and Ebert.  However, it did not even receive a nomination in the documentary category for an Academy Award, raising questions about the legitimacy of this category.  The film is currently on video, and it is well worth seeing.