I'll try to keep this short and to the point. This is not a complex drama, not was it meant to be. As a previous reviewer pointed out, the pacing is quick and timely. On some levels, you could view this as a moral tale. The good guys win in the end. The heroine puts out a max effort, remains true to her values, but also discovers her view of the situation was a bit too simple. (Perhaps as many of us have a tendency towards?). As in life, a little attitude and approach adjustment, and she zeroes in on the goal. The willingness to risk failing, however, remaining steadfast to her morals, provides the final tension that is resolved with the cathartic victory in the end.

Whoopi Goldberg is ideally cast as a passionate and loud-mouthed Knicks fan with the best of intentions. The film does as a good job of setting up its fantastic premise: Whoopi appointed as coach of the Knicks to help the owner break obnoxious coach Dennis Farina's ironclad contract. Farina is terrific as the ex-coach of the Knicks who tries to edge the Knicks out for the last playoff spot in the East as the Coach of the Hornets. Vlade Divac is hysterically funny, but not-at-all over-the-top as Ivan. Frank Langella is perfectly sinister but never unbelievable as the larger-than-life Cowboy owner who buys the Knicks to try to sell them for a profit. There are hilarious cameos throughout especially by two former NYC mayors.

I remember passing up many an opportunity to watch this film... I would catch commercials stating that it would air within days, I never made a point of watching it(in fact, I rather made one of missing it). Tonight, I saw it (as the famous line in Spaceballs goes) for the first time, for the last time. The movie is just not funny. I never laughed, smirked, heck, I didn't even smile. It wasn't charming, clever or even sporadically amusing. I'm generally not into movies about sports... but I have liked them. I didn't like this one. Didn't care for it a bit. Whoopi Goldberg has her moments, but they are few and far between... and none of them are in this flick. The plot is daft and poorly written. The acting is unimpressive. The characters are thin, clichéd stereotypes. The humor is simplistic and unfunny. The timing is off, more often than not. The sports scenes aren't particularly exciting or involving. The score is decent enough, with one or two great songs. All in all, the film is just not all that interesting... it might be decent entertainment for fans of basketball. But then again, the same could be said of Space Jam, and we all know the level of quality presented in that film... exactly. That film may actually be more entertaining, since it at least has one or two comedic talents(take that, Goldberg). I suggest you skip it, unless you *really* want to see a basketball flick. I recommend this to fans of basket and/or Whoopi Goldberg. Everyone else probably shouldn't bother. 5/10

Even in small comedies, I believe the screenwriter has to be a little respectful to his audience. I think the average person on the street will extend disbelief in a movie if you present it in an acceptable manner. No one complained that in 'While You Were Sleeping' that the entire plot in completely dependant on everyone experiencing the same misunderstandings. Or did they?So, in that same way, Whoopi should get to do a stupid movie that no one will believe a word of. She has an Oscar and some box office clout, why not take them out for a spin? She plays Edwina, a loudmouth Knicks fan who is cursed with lousy seats, a really bad team and a boss who does not understand her obsession. Since the team has a new owner (Langella) who conveniently does not get along with the coach (Dennis Farina), changes are in store. The owner is more suited to the WWF, as he speaks to the crowd before the game from the court, on a HORSE, and during his pyro show he accidentally destroys the retired jersey of Walt Frazier...I told you it was illogical. So he's tacky and has no regard for team tradition. Its not a long stretch for him to arrange things to get Edwina (known as Eddie) to coach the team for half a game in the name of promotion. When the current coach protests, he gets fired. So Eddie gets to be the coach full time, and takes a loser team and makes them a winner..I told you it was predictable. What's worse is that Eddie was extremely knowledgable in the problems of the team before she took over, but once the coaching job is given to her she is mysteriously clueless. But in addition to believing that a fan would take on the head coach job, you are also asked to believe that the owner will move the team to St. Louis, IF THEY WIN..this put Eddie in an awkward situation, no?Unless you never saw another movie in your life, you can predict the outcome. But as a sports fan, who's suffered at times like all sports fans suffer in the name of love for your team, I can't help but enjoy it on at least a couple of levels. 5/10.