'Dreams' a slam-dunk success

Hoop Dreams" is the story of the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys, Williams Gates and Arthur Agee, whose grand dreams of careers in basketball precede all other things. Originally released in 1994, "Hoop Dreams" was filmed over a five-year period and over 11 full days of film was shot for the project. Director Steve James, editor Frederick Marx and cinematographer Peter Gilbert painstakingly cut the wealth of footage down to a slim 171 minutes and emerged with one of the most compelling documentaries ever made about the search for the American Dream and the highs and lows that go along with it.\nReleased for the first time on DVD courtesy of the Criterion Collection, the picture quality has been improved drastically from the muddy 35mm-to-VHS transfer, making the boys' journey from grammar school to college all the more vibrant in presentation. As William and Arthur lament their economically lacking lifestyles, while at the same time professing their love for their families and those who support their goals, viewers begin sympathizing with the boys, all the way to the point where a game-winning free throw attempt takes on the same sense of heightened suspense as a hard-boiled action scene in most other films. The boys' deep admiration for the likes of Isaiah Thomas, Bobby Knight and various NBA superstars is tangible, palpable and all the more draining as we become unsure if the boys' dreams will ever come true.\nTrue to form, the Criterion Collection has laced this single disc edition with meaningful extras including two full-length commentary tracks, one featuring the filmmakers and the other featuring Gates and Agee in the present day. Both give unending insight into a film already packed with heady material, but only Gates' and Agee's track packs an emotional punch as the two men wax romantic on their former dreams of stardom. Also offered with this disc is a featurette chronicling Siskel & Ebert's undying devotion to getting this film out to audiences and award show voters and a 38-page booklet with several valuable essays.\nThroughout "Hoop Dreams" we're fully aware that the boys' true talent is there, as is obvious from the get-go, but as the film progresses, and the boys' hopes and aspirations are equally encouraged and dashed, it becomes less a film about whether or not William and Arthur will make it to the NBA and more about whether or not they will make successful lives for themselves.