He Got Game Movie Review 1998

Lee hops all over the place with this basketball drama that reveals more of his love for the game than cohesive filmmaking. Actually two movies in one: High school basketball great Jesus Shuttlesworth (newcomer and Milwaukee Bucks player Allen) must decide between college or a lucrative NBA contract. Then up pops his incarcerated pops, Jake, (a haggard Washington) to pressure him to chose his warden's alma mater, which turns the film into a shallow look at a strained father-son relationship. Washington is dynamic as the embittered father and Allen is evenly effective. Yet, the reunion is never fully developed and sometimes abandoned, while Lee scores visually by beautifully photographing the glorious hoop moves. Extraneous, stereotypical characters and rauchy sex sequences drag the film further from its dramatic resonance.

Distribution

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521-1120, Toll-free: 800-723-4763, URL: http://www.bvhe.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 134 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Director/Star Teams: Lee & Washington, Basketball, African America, Sports Dramas, Teen Angst, Bad Dads, Men in Prison, Oldest Profession

Screenplay

Spike Lee

Cast

Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, Milla Jovovich, Rosario Dawson, Hill Harper, Zelda Harris, Jim Brown, Ned Beatty, Lonette McKee, John Turturro, Michele Shay, Bill Nunn, Thomas Jefferson Byrd

Cinematography

Malik Hassan Sayeed

Director

Spike Lee

Producer

Spike Lee, Jon Kilik, Touchstone Pictures, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Buena Vista