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      Fast Break

      PG Released Mar 2, 1979 1 hr. 47 min. Comedy List
      Reviews 58% 100+ Ratings Audience Score A coach (Gabriel Kaplan) from New York packs his Nevada college basketball team with street-wise players. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Premiered Mar 22 Buy Now

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      Audience Reviews

      View All (6) audience reviews
      Steve D What it lacks in humor it makes up for in predictability. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Gabe Kaplan moves to Nevada with four recruits from the streets of New York to coach a small school college basketball program and makes them a contender. Lots of storylines but hasn't aged all that well. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member *** (out of four) Gabe Kaplan is a basketball enthusiast who is hired by a Nevada college to coach. The film is silly, but has some heart. Kaplan is great and shares some good chemistry with the players. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member New basketball coach at small college recruits street players (incl future NBA star Bernard King) from the neighbourhood. Some legitimate laughs; Kaplan has charm as the coach. Enjoyable as long as you can look past a few flagrant NCAA rules violations along the way. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Gabe Kaplan moves to Nevada with four recruits from the streets of New York to coach a small school college basketball program and makes them a contender. Lots of storylines but hasn't aged all that well. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Like most TV stars who have had success, Gabe Kaplan got his chance to try his hand at movies. With a familiar role, as mentor to a group of deliquent young men, wisecracking his way into their hearts and assuring their success. Some have argued that the movie falls apart early and never recovers. I disagree. While it starts out fast it does slow a bit but not to the point where the movie is not enjoyable. Greene (Kaplan) is an aspiring coah but no one wants him. Eventually he gets his lucky break when Cadwallader University, in rural Nevada contacts him. This college is trying to make a name for itself by starting a basketball program, and they can not even pay Greene (Kaplan). With a terrible salery and the promise that he can bring anyone he wants for the team he sets out to inner city New York. He recruits a team of three African American men and one woman and transplants them to an all white college. The team struggles, as finding a fifth man proves difficult, their grades aren't showing enough promise to keep them in school, and they have no idea how they are ever going to play State without being in their division. The movie is easy to watch but the humor never really rises so if your looking for a "laugh out loud" type of movie this is way to subtle. Basketball fans might also enjoy seeing NBA star Bernard King as Hustler, one of the main players of the team. I personally love the "Interesting" relationship between DC (Harold Sylvester of Married with Children fame) and Swish (Mavis Washington). Swish pretends to be a man though most of the movie which leads to some interesting moments with DC that are both enjoyable and funny. This movie is for those who want a light, feel good comedy. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (4) Critics Reviews
      Vincent Canby New York Times As do some of our most popular standup comedians, Mr. Kaplan sort of floats over his material, always in charge of it, but never deeply involved. This is not a rebuke. Rated: 3/5 Mar 24, 2008 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times We've seen this formula so many times before that there can be no surprises, except for some small suspense about when the foreordained events will take place. Rated: 2/4 Mar 24, 2008 Full Review TV Guide Totally implausible (though surely not meant to be taken seriously), highly predictable, and not particularly funny. Rated: 1.5/4 Mar 24, 2008 Full Review Chuck O'Leary FulvueDrive-in.com A hugely likable basketball comedy. Gabe Kaplan is so appealing here that you wonder why he didn't become a bigger star. Rated: 7/10 Feb 17, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis A coach (Gabriel Kaplan) from New York packs his Nevada college basketball team with street-wise players.
      Director
      Jack Smight
      Distributor
      Columbia Pictures
      Production Co
      Trimark
      Rating
      PG
      Genre
      Comedy
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Mar 2, 1979, Limited
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Dec 1, 2008
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