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Hurricane Season (DVD)
Year: 2009
Rating: PG
Director: Tim Story
Cast: Isaiah Washington , Bonnie Hunt, Forest Whitaker, Bow Wow
Release Date: July 07, 2011
Distributor: Reel
The Film: 2.0
FILMINK rates DVDs and Blu-rays out of 5"...it has all the depth of a Hallmark card."
Based on the true story of John Ehret Patriot's basketball team and how they survived Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Season looks set to be an inspirational tale. As Coach Collins (Forest Whitaker) readies one of his finest teams ever, Katrina tears through the city of New Orleans destroying their school and their community. In the aftermath both face an uncertain future with the majority of Collins' players leaving the city while it's being rebuilt, while those who stay face the ominous task of reconstructing everything. Seemingly undaunted, Coach Collins begins assembling a new team from across the city taking a rag tag collective of refugees and casualties with the aim of turning them into a championship winning team. But old rivalries aren't quickly forgotten as the team finds it impossible to pull together, even with the guidance of Coach Collins. Collins' single mindedness and utter commitment to winning ultimately comes at a high price to his team, forcing him to address their own issues at home and their lives in the wake of the hurricane. But Collins and the Patriots ultimately find triumph in adversity and in turn become a metaphor for New Orleans that offers hope for the future.
Hurricane Season is intended to be a feel good TV movie, but with over simplified characters, a predictable plot and dreadful tear-jerker scenes it has all the depth of a Hallmark card. Forest Whittaker, as ever, gives it all he's got in the role of Al Carter and steals every scene he's in, but sadly his performance just isn't enough to support the movie as a whole. Able support comes from Isaiah Washington and Courtney B Vance as the assistant coach and an overbearing father respectively, while the rest of the cast, particularly Robbie Jones as the team's new selfish star and Bow Wow, really do little else than act like stereotypes in this cookie cutter movie.
