Absolutely love the movie except for their putrid romance. They have some of the worst chemistry I've seen not only between two characters, but between two people period. That first kiss has made my skin crawl at every viewing--it's just gross. He looks like he's forcing it on her; she looks like she's about to vomit. Then they both mention how long it's been since they've kissed anyone, making the whole situation even more pathetic.
shareThat scene was the inspiration for the godaddy super bowl commercial.
shareAgreed. Hackman and Hershey have the chemistry of oil and water. She's a good actress, but I've always felt she was miscast. From everything I've heard and read, the LA born Hershey was unhappy shooting on location in Indiana, while native Mid-Westerners Hackman and Hopper were quite content.
You're messing with my Zen thing, man!
It's interesting that you think they have no chemistry, because Hershey liked Hackman and enjoyed working with him. In a Boston Globe article from February 22, 1987, she said, "I was totally unself-conscious acting with him, which isn't easy to achieve. He was so good that I became caught up in what he was doing. We were electric--that's what I felt."
shareThe romance was OK but I certainly would not have wanted any more of it.
He was the former Navy man in his late 40s, he had bounced around the world for the last 15 years, she was the mid-30s old-maid who went off to college then came back to live with her parents.
The difference in their characters' ages was 10-12 years, maybe 15 at most. She was 33-35-36 or so, it's not like he was robbing the cradle. And it wasn't like Hickory was crawling with eligible males.
The average marriage age in Hickory was about 19, so anybody in Myra's general age group who was available and looking for action was probably a drunk divorced guy like Shooter.
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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.
True, but in real life there was an 18 year difference which is borderline weird. He was an older looking 56 and Hershey was one of the most beautiful 36 year olds I've ever seen.
share56-38 (or whatever was the actual gap) isn't really "weird." Plenty of second marriages have that kind of age gap. Once both parties are out of their early-mid 20s, who really cares?
Hershey herself was very hot at the time but Myra Fleener was definitely not depicted as a world-class knockout, just a nice looking early middle-aged woman.
Probably in terms of Hickory she was absolutely smokin, but as I noted in my post of three years ago, not too many people around Hickory made it into their mid-30s and were still single.
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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.
They had awful chemistry, I think Jack Nicholson would have been better for at least that part, but Hackman nailed everything else.
shareI agree. The chemistry was awful, Hackman is 18 years her senior, and the kiss towards then end seems tacked on just to get some romance into the movie. With almost any movie with a male lead, there will always be an attractive female who is conveniently not attached to anyone, and who's main purpose is to provide a romantic interest for the lead. Does every movie have to have romance in it???
shareI thought it was really well done. It wasn't forced/contrived & awkward like most movie romances of these types that you see in sports movies. It was just kinda subtle and understated - not overdone in any way. I like that. It didn't distract from the movie's main story and added a lot of depth to Hackman's character.
Death by stereo
If it's any consolation, in a deleted scene before the championship game, Myra tells Norman that she's leaving Hickory to return to school and get an advanced degree--which she says he inspired her to do. So the exact status of their romance was originally intended to be left ambiguous.
shareAlso agree. I don't see any chemistry between them, but maybe that's the way it's supposed to be.
Both characters are damaged, and would be very awkward in any love relationship at this point in their lives.
It's just that even when they break the ice between them, there's still no noticeable warmth between them, despite both actors being very good.
Maybe that's the way it was supposed to be tho?
Without having seen Hoosiers in a long time, I don't recall Gene Hackman being too much of a romantic lead. He kills Sean Young in No Way out, he's a loner in The Conversation, he's a bad man in Unforgiven, cruel and nasty in The Quick and The Dead. I don't think there is anything wrong with his looks, but maybe he doesn't like roles that require him to be romantic. It really is a particular task, to be handsome so that women rush into your embrace. I don't think I would capture the screen with women rushing to me, uh-uh.
shareHackman plays a compulsive philandering adulterer in The Firm (1993)
shareGene Hackman’s character and Barbara Hershey’s character are not supposed to have any chemistry at all - that’s why it works so well.
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