The Winning Season 2009

Critics score:
52 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Stephen Holden, New York Times: In its final lap The Winning Season collapses into a sentimental farce that even Mr. Rockwell, now playing the clown, cannot redeem from cringe-inducing hokum. Read more

Eric Hynes, Time Out: Forget AA; according to the movies, there's no better cure for alcoholism or depression than good ol' precollegiate athletic coaching. Read more

Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: A predictable and cliched dramady. Read more

Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times: The story deepens through the clownish, heartbreaking exertions of Rockwell's gruff misfit, still working things out at the final buzzer. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Rockwell does a typically fine job -- he's funny, touching and appalling -- as an alcoholic mess of a former high school basketball coach who's been reduced to washing dishes in a restaurant. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: The Winning Season respects its misfits (and its audience) by not stripping away their foibles in the service of sports-movie cliches. Read more