He Got Game (1998) Movie Info
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | He Got Game (1998) |
| Director | Spike Lee |
| Screenplay Writer | Spike Lee |
| Based on Novel by | — (Original screenplay) |
| Lead Actors | Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, Milla Jovovich |
| Cast | Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, Milla Jovovich, Rosario Dawson, Hill Harper, Ned Beatty, John Turturro, Lonette McKee |
| Genre | Drama, Sport |
| Release Date | May 1, 1998 (United States) |
| Duration | 2h 16m (136 minutes) |
| Budget | ~$25 million |
| Language | English |
| Country | United States |
| Box Office (Worldwide) | ~$21.6 million |
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Short Summary
A high school basketball star weighs turning pro and accepting a collegiate scholarship. His father, in prison for killing his mother, must convince him to accept a scholarship in order to have his sentence commuted by the governor.
Review
He Got Game? More like He Got Robbed of what should have been a much greater experience. He being me. This heavily-hyped film simply failed to capitalize on a ton of potential. With Spike Lee directing this “joint” and Denzel Washington starring alongside NBA star Ray Allen, this picture depicting the life decisions of a Brooklyn H.S. basketball standout had the chance to be great. Some elements of it still are. All actors offer solid performances and the camerawork makes for an intimate portrayal of the city’s street culture.
It doesn’t lean too heavily on basketball scenes, as you might expect from a sport flick, and those that are shown are excellent. The interplay between Jesus Shuttlesworth (Allen) and his father Jake (Washington), temporarily released from prison to convince the young star to attend the governor’s alma mater, is believable and compelling.
Where He Got Game falls short is in Lee’s inability to rein himself in, and to give the average viewer a little credit. In depicting the temptations young Jesus faces, we are treated to a montage of gratuitous sex and drug use, followed by an entirely unrealistic scene in which the kind gets laid by a pair of co-eds during a recruiting visit. We get the point. I recognize the desire to show, not tell, but Lee shows too much and clouds the viewer’s appreciation of the film’s good points.
This pattern carries over to other areas of the plot that eat up major screen time but are never really explained, such as the endless attention harped on Jesus’ name or the bizarre relationship between Jake and a local hooker. The ending is a complete cop out, too. From someone as talented as Lee, you expect better. A good editor, or some more time spent revising the script to improve the final cut, couldn’t have been that hard to come by.
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