There are many reasons to be excited about the indie high school basketball movie, "The Winning Season," and most of them are the eclectic cast members. You have Sam Rockwell as the dishwasher turned girl's varsity basketball coach, Emma Roberts as the leader of the underdog team, and Rob Corddry as the high school administrator who brings the two of them together.
But on top of that, there's soon-to-be A-lister Rooney Mara and "Half Nelson's" Shareeka Epps fleshing out the six-player basketball team, in addition to "Gossip Girl's" Connor Paolo as the boy Emma's character is crushing on. Fortunately for you, we have an exclusive clip bringing all of them together.
We never get tired of high school comedies, including good-hearted but surprisingly gritty indies starring Sam-freaking-Rockwell. Though he is absent from this clip, it's clear from the chemistry between the girls that he won't have to carry this film, and neither will Emma Roberts.
Shareeka first impressed us with "Half Nelson," and though she looks way too young to be on this team (she's actually 21 in real life!), we know from the trailer and this clip that she's the team's spitfire. But instead of completely stealing the scene when she tricks Emma's character into talking to Connor's, she and the other girls all work off each other to really give an ensemble performance.
As for the edginess that we promised, it didn't rear its head in this clip but we got a good look at it last week when a Rooney Mara-centric clip debuted online, probably hoping to ride on the press that she got when it was announced she was leading David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." Between those two clips, it should be evident enough that this is more than your average high school comedy.
Are you planning on catching "The Winning Season" when it hits theaters September 3? Are you glad that no one cast member is stealing the show completely?
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