Wildcats (1986)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Dreadfully Boring

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

YO, the only reason this rating is low is cause this movie is about the success and society inflicted difficulties of a white woman and a group of mostly black men. It is not 'light' but it is funny, goldie is not 'frizzy' but she is a strong lead. Hate to say it, but imdb ratings are low for most female driven movies that dont put white men in a good light. this covers a spectrum of issues around control, gaslighting, neglect, racism, sexism, classism. This is some good shit. Keep your eyes and ears open. love and light <3

If you folks remember that John Wayne/Donna Reed film Trouble Along The Way, Wayne is a divorced father living with his little daughter Sherry Jackson who has learned all about sports especially football from her dad who was a football coach. Imagine Sherry growing up to be Goldie Hawn and you have an idea of her character in Wildcats.She wants to invade the male preserve of the boys sports because she knows a lot about the game, it comes naturally from her dad. But it isn't that simple and the only job she can get is in Principal Nipsey Russell's inner city school a really rough place.Some future big names like Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson are some of Goldie's players. Best however is Tab Thacker one mountain of a kid critical to defense, but Thacker requires special motivation.She also has custody issues with her most uptight ex-husband James Keach and his extremely prissy wife Jan Hooks. Those kids from her team try to help, but mess things up.This one is really Goldie's show she has a fine comedy part with a bit of family drama thrown in. Basically because she has invaded that male holy of holys, the boy's locker room.It's a good comedy, Goldie Hawn really shines.

Wildcats (1986) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Goldie Hawn plays a woman's track coach whose dream in life is to coach a football team. When her high school passes over her for being a woman, she gets a job at another school but the bad news is that it's in the ghetto and none of the players respect her. The toughest part is going to be breaking through to the players and then getting them to play her way. This film seems to have been a hit when released but it doesn't hold up overly well today. I think the biggest problem is the screenplay that at times seems to forget we're watching a comedy because it dives into a subplot with Hawn's ex-husband and this eats up so much of the running time that the film loses focus on trying to make us laughs. What laughs the film does try to get comes from various toilet humor, which includes one player who likes to fart and another (Wesley Snipes) who just wants to have a piece of Hawn. The screenplay is also quite predictable as everything we see here was borrowed from previous sport films and you just know Hawn is going to get a chance at revenge in the final game in the film. What does work with the movie are the performances with Hawn giving it her all as her energy level is certainly on high and one can't help but smile seeing her going up against this opposite crowd. The supporting cast is also pretty good as we get early performances by Snipes and Woody Harrelson as well as nice work from Nipsey Russell, James Keach, Bruce McGill and Ann Doran in what would turn out to be her final film role (she started way back in 1922). There's no question that this movie is mildly entertaining from start to finish but at the same time I couldn't help but be somewhat disappointed because we weren't given more laughs as the side story was just too much and kept going on and on. Even the surprising nude scene by Hawn seemed out of place as did quite a bit here. Still, the attractive cast makes this one worth at least a rental.

This movie was released about January 1986, just a few months after I saw an article reporting that a woman had been hired as the first female high school football coach (that would be for the Fall 1985 football season); it also said that all the other coaches in the same league protested (not that their protests did them any good). But I can't remember her name, nor where she coached, and all the Internet searches I've done on women in sports haven't turned up her name. Also, we are looking for the first woman to coach high school football after World War II, when some women coached high school football due to virtually all men of coaching age being in the military.