Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Justin C "One on One" is an average 70s sports flick with a couple of unlikeable characters that spoiled the film for me. While Henry is certainly likable in his quest to overcome academic and athletic adversity at college, I found nothing redeeming in the Janet (his tutor) and Malcolm (Janet's boyfriend) characters.What makes Janet & Malcolm unlikeable? Janet is intellectually arrogant, condescending, and insulting toward Henry, and thinks herself way more intelligent than she really is. But her boyfriend Malcolm was twice as arrogantly "intellectual" and insulting than her toward Henry. They act like they think they're Ivy League students (or even more intelligent than Ivy League students), yet they're at a low-ranked college in the West. What a laugh. What gave them the right to treat anyone the way they treated Henry? The worst was the scene where they team up to insult Henry's intelligence. I felt sorry for Henry because of the treatment he had to endure from Janet & Malcolm.Or was it common for "above average intelligence but nothing special" college kids in the 70s to act as arrogant, insulting and condescending as Janet & Malcolm did in this movie? Yeah, Malcolm's a professor, but my point stands. I'm wondering why they were written in the script to be as insulting and condescending as they were.Other than those 2 characters, the film was a decent way to spend a couple hours on an afternoon, and it's a somewhat interesting view into 1970s college athletics.

imbluzclooby What can I remember about "One on One". I was like 10 years old. I think I saw it as a double-feature with another sports movie called "Take Down". That is when double-features existed and they usually had movies with similar themes. Anyhow, One on One is a pretty cool movie for anybody, let alone those who love basketball. I remember Robby Benson going to college and he is literally dwarfed by some of the other players. The center was 7'4", his new friend was like 6'6" and little Robby is only 5'11". But he still can dazzle us with his ball handling and great outside shots. He falls in love with a nice Freshman and the relationship is very sweet and tame. I think they may have kissed twice, one being just a simple short kiss. This is your typical underdog story told in a sport's theme while giving the audience the allure of young adults learning about life and love. The closing song and montage is also nice and reminiscent of the 70's.

clydestuff One on One is the kind of film that infuriates me every time I see it. There is much of it that is very good and highly watchable. Unfortunately, there's also a good portion of it lousy enough that it makes a certain aspect of this film darn near intolerable. The premise of the story is intriguing enough. Small town and small of stature basketball player Henry Steele (Robby Benson) has spent most of his life doing nothing but practicing and playing basketball (sort of a white Michael Jordan with hair). He is recruited by Coach Moreland Smith (G.D. Spradlin) to play basketball for Western University (think UCLA) and Henry accepts. Since Henry is from a small rural school he is totally unprepared for what awaits him in college. The players are much bigger of course, the practices are ten times tougher and he has no clue even as to what his classes will be. Some of the best scenes in One on One are watching Henry overcoming his naiveness as he learns what being a college jock is about. In order to make sure that he keeps his grades up he is also sent to be tutored by Janet Hays (Annette O'Toole). Unfortunately for Henry, Janet also hates jocks, a fact that Henry quickly finds out on his first day of tutoring. Henry may be a naive jock, but he is not dumb and uses Janet's degrading put downs of a jock's ability to learn as incentive to prove her wrong. However, the more he studies, the more Henry has trouble coping with playing college basketball and it isn't long before Coach Smith asks him to renounce his scholarship.OK, first I'll give you the good: Robby Benson gives a solid performance as the naive country-bumpkin basketball superstar. I don't have a clue as to how much basketball he actually played in his life but in this film he certainly looks as if he could step right out onto a basketball court and begin wowing the folks. Although he does take some favors such as a car for going to the university, Benson is able to convince us that he is simply too callow to understand the ramifications of receiving cars, trading tickets to alumni for cash, and working a job that requires no work.. That's why we are able to root for Henry. Then there's the love story that develops between Henry and Janet. As Henry works to gains Janet's respect, we see her attitude change from one of disdain, to caring about Henry and eventually love. The fact that we can believe in the love story is due in no small measure to Annette O'Toole's Janet. She gives her character enough depth that we are able to see that Janet is not above learning a few things about people and how not to judge everyone as a group. When her boyfriend is ridiculing Henry, we almost sense the shame she feels from having done the same thing earlier in the film. It is this love story that is perhaps the best thing about One on One and darn it, if they had just made the movie more about that they would have been on safe ground.Of course I could stop here with the review and spare you the pain of the bad but why should I suffer alone? Any film worth its salt will try and manipulate its audience in some fashion another. The really good ones do it in a either a subtle way that we don't know how much we are being manipulated, or do it in a manner in which we may realize we are being manipulated but we don't care. Then there are films like One on One that are so heavy-handed in its attempt to manipulate our emotions, that it ends up turning us off by doing the blatantly obvious. If ever there was the epitome of a wicked evil college coach, it's Spradlin's Coach Smith. It doesn't take us too long to realize his character is way over the top. It's as if writers Benson and Segal made him a composite caricature of the absolute worst coaches to grace a basketball court and his basketball program is equally despicable. Coach Smith would make Bobby Knight appear saintly by comparison. For instance, after having personally recruited Henry and signing him, Smith doesn't even remember who he is when he shows up at his office. Players are given good paying jobs for doing nothing. College classes are re-routed so players can go to practice instead of taking exams. Players are given oodles of money by alumni. I have no doubt that some of these things go on in some college sports program, but if they did it as obvious and as much as Smith does, they would be on NCAA probation for decades. Later when Henry doesn't appear to be making the grade, Spradlin resorts to physical torture to try and get Henry to renounce his scholarship, and does it in front of the other players. From what we are told this isn't the first time that has happened but One on One would have us believe it's a common occurrence for Coach Smith. Would a coach who sanctions so much rule breaking actually insist on a player renouncing his scholarship and take the chance that a recruit would head right to the NCAA and have a true confession? All of these shenanigans are from a coach who expects to have an undefeated season. I don't blame Spradlin as his portrayal of Smith is what the script and character requires him to do. If Benson and Segal had toned this aspect down quite a bit, it would have made for a much better film simply because it might have been more believable. Instead they just about kill it by making Smith appear to be Satan in a jacket and tie.My advice is to watch as Henry learns his way around college, watch the scenes between O'Toole and Benson, and concentrate on the growing love story between them and some of the other humorous scenes that deal with Henry's naiveté and growth as a person. As for the rest of the story, that's when you get up and make yourself a sandwich.My grade: C+

the_old_roman Robby Benson and Annette O'Toole have good enough chemistry to make their unlikely pairing a crowd pleaser nonetheless. Benson is very good as the jock who is first coddled, then spurned, stirring the man within him. The movie has a great deal of fun with the special treatment given Jocks. Benson's work-study job is to turn the sprinklers on and off, but the sprinklers work automatically. Gail Strickland and (Director) Lamont Johnson are marvelous in small but hilarious supporting bits.But the true star of the movie is G.D. Spradlin as the humorless and amoral hard-nosed basketball coach. Best exchange is when Benson says: "You're a great molder of character, coach" and Spradlin retorts, "You never asked me to mold your character." Spradlin is 100% true to his character as a John-Wooden-type of basketball coach. All in all, One on One shouldn't be taken too seriously but is quite enjoyable on its own terms.