It stars Robert Mitchum, Martin Sheen, Bruce Dern, Stacy Keach and Paul Sorvino, the only cast member to have previously appeared in the play.

With a former coach that still addresses problems as if his boys are having a bad game, the friends' longtime loyalty to one another begins to unravel.

Locations during the three weeks of Scranton shooting included Nay Aug Park and the then-vacant Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Station.

She criticized Mitchum's performance as lacking power, and that the film was replete with racist dialogue without making it clear if the racism was embraced by the characters.

But Canby criticized the upbeat ending as "unbelievable and, worse, attempts to balance - in a wishy-washy way - the terrible truths that have been so carefully laid out earlier.

"[9] New York Daily News critic Kay Gardella wrote that "Miller's vitriolic play loses much of its dramatic intensity on the screen."

Critic Bernard Drew said that Miller had broken up his acts, which had sustained audience attention as a play, "into a series of confrontations.

"[11] Diego Galán of El País wrote "Jason Miller makes his [film] with the wisdom of an orthodox narrator and a collaboration with five fine actors.