That Championship Season (1982)

Director:

Jason Miller

Writer:

Jason Miller (play)

Release Date:

14 January 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

It started as a friendly meeting between 4 old buddies with their basketball coach and ended up in revealing the truth about their relationship...

Plot Keywords:

Coach | Basketball | Adaptation Directed By Original Author | Father Figure | Reunion

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Bruce Dern	...	George Sitkowski
Stacy Keach	...	James Daley
Robert Mitchum	...	Coach Delaney
Martin Sheen	...	Tom Daley
Paul Sorvino	...	Phil Romano
Arthur Franz	...	Macken
Michael Bernosky	...	Jacks
Joseph Kelly	...	Malley
James M. Langan	...	Cooney
Tony Santaniello	...	Marelli
William G. McAndrew	...	Harrison
Barry Weiner	...	Sharman
Edward Cunningham	...	Newspaper Editor
Robert E. Schlesinger	...	Nelson
George Lowry	...	Zookeeper
Jim Sparkman	...	The Heckler

Directed by
Jason Miller

Writing credits
Jason Miller		(play)

Produced by
Yoram Globus	....	executive producer
Menahem Golan	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Bill Conti

Cinematography by
John Bailey

Film Editing by
Richard Halsey

Production Design by
Ward Preston

Set Decoration by
Robert R. Benton

Costume Design by
Ron Talsky

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Engelman	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Yarek Alfer	....	sculptor

Sound Department
Sandy Berman	....	supervising sound editor
Raul A. Bruce	....	boom operator
Marty Church	....	adr mixer
Marty Church	....	foley mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Bobby Brown	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Jim Duggan	....	company grip
Dave Friedman	....	still photographer
Al LaVerde	....	key grip

Editorial Department
Lorenzo DeStefano	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer
James D. Young	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Robert Benjamin	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Jim Gerwig	....	caterer
Kathryn Loraine Hibbs	....	assistant accountant

Distributors

• Citadel Films (1983) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Cannon Film Distributors
• Globo Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

American Zoetrope Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Trivia:

The play "That Championship Season" won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1973.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Mayor Sitkowski is riding the exercise bicycle in his office in Scranton, the sun is shining outside, but the apparently live baseball game he is watching from Yankee Stadium is being played at night. Scranton isn't far enough west of the Bronx for this to happen.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Bruce Dern/Leon Redbone (#8.15)" (1983)

Jason Miller Turns His Play Into A Boring Gabfest

Playwright (and sometimes actor) Jason Miller (better known to moviegoers as the troubled priest in the horror classic "The Exorcist") adapts his award-winning play, about the 24th reunion of a High School basketball team. Miller also directs the movie and he pretty much does a lousy job with his own material. The introductory scenes are laughable and the film fails to be anything but a filmed play. The cast (Bruce Dern, Martin Sheen, Robert Mitchum, Paul Sorvino, Stacy Keach) also represents a problem; while all actors are good, I never believed they were old pals and/or had any kind of meaningful relationship. One can tell that the material is good and probably the thing worked better on a stage with a live audience. As a film, it is talky, static and not very interesting.