Writer-director Ron Shelton has made movies about several sports before more recently branching into the cop genre (Dark Blue, Hollywood Homicide), and the script he wrote for The Best of Times is one of his sharpest. It is a movie about recapturing the glory of one’s youth, and the impossibility of that very task.
Thirteen years after a legendary high school football game in which a clumsy receiver dropped the ball, he still endures taunts about his ineptitude. Fed up, Jack Dundee — now a banker (Robin Williams) — formulates an idea to redeem his name and reputation: the two teams will re-form and replay the football game!
This simple concept is beautifully layered by writer Sheldon and director Roger Spottiswoode. The town of Taft has drifted in a melancholy funk since the fateful football loss to their arch rival Bakersfield, and the prospect of finally settling an old score produces a galvanizing effect on everybody. Of course, Jack has to first convince his aging and out of shape teammates to once again put on the spikes, which he does with wild but believable chicanery.
His dramatic foil in this story is his best friend, star quarterback Reno Hightower (Kurt Russell), who for years has enjoyed a great reputation (he didn’t drop the ball) and doesn’t want to lose the one good thing in his life. Their combative relationship is the core of the film and provides its heart.
Shelton has always written good roles for women and this film boasts three: Jack’s estranged wife (Holly Palance), Reno’s newly estranged wife (Pamela Reed) and Jack’s mistress (Margaret Whitton). These women are real — strong yet funny, gullible yet good-hearted, disappointed in their men yet ultimately forgiving. They steal the show.
The film’s premise is deceptively simple; at its heart, it is a story about using a second chance to rekindle a joy of living and to reconnect with loved ones. The sports rivalry between the two communities is pointed but rarely becomes unsportsmanlike. The film skewers America’s addiction to sports, but does so with wit and compassion. This bright comedy, which I think is one of Kurt Russell’s best movies, is available on VHS, DVD and laserdisc. My rating: ✰ ✰ ✰ ½. (4:4).