steven@ism780 (02/25/86)
WILDCATS Starring Goldie Hawn and James Keach. Also starring Swoosie Kurtz, Nipsey Russell and Bruce McGill. Directed by Michael Ritchie. Written by Ezra Sacks. Produced by Anthea Sylbert. Photographed by Donald Thorin. Production Designed by Boris Leven. Edited by Richard A. Harris. Music by Hawk Wolinski and James Newton Howard. From Warner Bros. Pictures (1986) Goldie does football. Formula all the way, but mostly amusing. Molly McGrath (Hawn) achieves her lifetime dream: to coach a football team, but her chance is at inner-city Chicago's Central High. Will she gain the respect of her 1) former athletic director and present rival coach and male-chauvinist-pig detractor Bruce McGill, 2) ex-husband (James Keach) 3) sister (Swoosie Kurtz), 4) new principal (Nipsey Russell) and 5) players (among them "Cheers"'s Woody Harrelson and "Hill Street Blues" semi-regular Mykel T. Williamson)???? If you answered "Yes", then YOU have the potential to become a respected director and writer of Hollywood deal movies. It's much better than her previous "Protocol" but not as stylish as "Private Benjamin". The movie manages to personalize the conflicts her coaching decision causes in her relationships with her kids and her husband, so it has more of a texture to it than a "We have to win the big game" type of movie. Michael Ritchie captures a suitably gritty texture and adds enough small quirks to keep you awake. A pretty funny "Super Bowl Shuffle" type end credit sequence that closes the picture is worth staying for. Two and a half stars out of four.