After two movie adaptations and an Off-Broadway production a decade ago, there would seem to be no compelling reason to revive Jason Miller’s That Championship Season. But, ah yes, there is, as this old-fashioned drama provides a perfect opportunity for the sort of limited engagement star casting that has become a winning recipe for Broadway success.

The good news is that the star-studded ensemble does very well by their by now familiar characters. The bad news is that this 1972 Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama--about the reunion of former high school basketball players celebrating the 20th anniversary of their biggest victory-- hasn’t aged particularly well.

Gregory Mosher, who staged a revelatory revival of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge last season, has failed to work similar magic here. But he has assembled a terrific cast that has already proven catnip at the box-office.

It includes Brian Cox as the coach who none too subtly reveals his racism; Jason Patric as the alcoholic Tom; Jim Gaffigan as George, the small-town mayor struggling for re-election; Chris Noth as Phil, the successful businessman whose support George desperately needs; and Kiefer Sutherland as James, the frustrated junior high principal who hopes to improve his lot in life by successfully managing George’s campaign.

The play follows a fairly predictable template. As the evening wears on and the characters become increasingly drunk, secrets and betrayals rise to the surface, with dramatic revelations and violent confrontations arriving on a fairly constant basis.  

Nearly forty years after its premiere, it feels stodgy and predictable now. But the play still works to some degree, thanks to its frequent doses of acerbic humor and effective tapping into the classic theme of dashed hopes.

It comes as no surprise that theater veteran Cox walks away with the evening with his forceful performance as the coach. On the other hand, who would have guessed that Patric (the playwright’s son, by the way) would display such formidable comic chops with his consistently funny turn, especially after his disappointing work as the similarly boozy Brick in the ill-fated Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Also fine are Gaffigan, perfectly cast as the uncharismatic mayor, and Chris Noth, in familiar territory as the slick and sleazy businessman. Sutherland is less convincing as the milquetoast James, but one has to admire the actor’s desire to play against type and meld into the ensemble rather than exploit the macho persona he honed to perfection over so many seasons of 24.

But all the actors’ efforts are not enough to overcome the mechanistic nature of the play itself, which has entered middle-age no more gracefully than its misbegotten characters.

Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, 242 W. 45th St. 212-239-6200. www.Telecharge.com.