Watch The Winning Season For Free

That was an excellent one.

From my favorite movies..

Absolutely Brilliant!

Blistering performances.

Terry (Rob Corddry) is the high school principal and he invites his old classmate Bill Greaves (Sam Rockwell) back to coach girls' basketball. He's a drunk busboy. He tries to reconnect to his daughter from his failed marriage. He's still struggling with his past basketball dreams. The girls' team isn't any good and has only 6 girls with 1 on crutches. The school bus driver Donna (Margo Martindale) helps out.It's an odd mix of Rockwell playing a slacker indie and the girls doing a fun underdog sports movie. It doesn't always mix well but there are enough good parts. The characters are likable. There is some fun with the girl drama clashing with Rockwell. Rooney Mara and Emma Roberts play two of the girls. Emma is the more compelling actress. It's reminiscent of 'Bad News Bears' with a drunken Walter Matthau.

In many ways, "The Winning Season" is a bit like "The Bad News Bears" for the 21st century, though I certainly enjoyed this newer film much more. I draw the comparison because a rather crude drunk (Sam Rockwell) reluctantly takes over as coach of a rather bedraggled team--much like Walter Matthau in "The Bad News Bears". The film begins with Rockwell working in the kitchen at a greasy spoon. It seems his life has spiraled out of control and he is now being given a chance at coaching once again. But, he's a drunk and his relationship with his ex-wife and daughter are a mess...and he seems to have zero people or coaching skills. How the heck can he pull together a team consisting of only six girls to make a winning season?This is an inappropriate film. It's fill of inappropriate language and I'd hate to think of either of my daughters ever having a coach like this guy. But, it's odd because you do like the guy in an odd way--he's not all bad. And, the dialog is quite clever and funny--and filled with expletives I think of it as a guilty pleasure--and a somewhat clichéd one as well. But, it's still likable and clever and well worth seeing if just for Rockwell's strange portrayal.

The plot of this movie is nothing new. The redemtion of a loser coach and his troubled life he has. In does however play to a comedic tone for the entire movie, sort of making fun of a genre that takes itself so seriously.It is unique in having so many different plot/teen/strife/issues; It feels like they throw the entire arsenal at you. You think to yourself, do they even have time to Fix all of these conflicts; But, Like any great commerical they don't show you everything. They do however enough to get the point across.The comedy was light and fresh, swearing added to the mocking tone of sports struggle movies. The redemtion is on both sides of the isle as the coach and his team learns something. If your in a basketball mode or just an avid sports fan, i'd recommend -

Kind of Garden State with Basketball, a sneaky lowball story of a loser coach's shot of redemption with a girls' basketball team, the Lady Chargers, that is both very funny and also kind of effective on the drama front.Everyone creates a low-fi vibe and just runs with it, small town values - we loved the comedy is in the small touches - and the timing - much of the comedy comes from the everyday conversations but just rings true.If you like sports movies with a little more than just training and victory dances then this fits the bill well - it's well done at every step...