james

"He Got Game" Movie Review

He Got Game

A Film Review by James Berardinelli

Writer/director Spike Lee is known to be a huge basketball fan (to be specific, a New York Knicks fan). Consequently, He Got Game has been described as "Lee's basketball film." Such a label is misleading. Like the 1994 documentary, Hoop Dreams, the basketball court is only an arena for a larger, deeper drama. Hoosiers is a basketball movie; He Got Game is a story about life, relationships, and the pressures of fame. Those in search of a film that ends with a championship match-up will be disappointed -- He Got Game's only court action takes place in playgrounds and on the street.

He Got Game is ambitious in that it tells not one story, but two. In addition to exploring the fractured relationship between a father and son, Lee examines the ins-and-outs of the recruiting process, whereby under-the-table cash handouts and covert offers have become run-of-the-mill. In the world of "amateur" sports, the role of the actual game has been diminished; it's all about greed and pressure. The focus in He Got Game is on what transpires behind-the-scenes, not in front of the television cameras.

The story opens with Jake Shuttleworth (Denzel Washington) serving a lengthy sentence in Attica for killing his wife. Meanwhile, on the outside, his son, Jesus (Ray Allen), has become the top- rated high school basketball player in the country, and is being recruited by every major college. In the words of one expert, he's "the best thing to happen to the game since the tennis shoe was invented." The warden of Attica (Ned Beatty) comes to Jake with a deal: convince Jesus to go to the governor's alma mater, Big State, and Jake's sentence will be reduced or commuted. To allow Jake to make contact with his son, he is given one week of freedom. There's a problem, though -- Jesus doesn't want to have anything to do with his father, and Jake's increasingly desperate attempts at a reconciliation run into a brick wall.

The dynamic between Jake and Jesus is both believable and poignant, and it reminded me a little of the relationship at the core of In the Name of the Father, where two emotional strangers come to understand each other. The effectiveness of these scenes is due in large part to the always-reliable Denzel Washington, who successfully displays both sides of Jake -- the earnest, loving father and the man who ruthlessly pushed his son to succeed and accidentally killed his wife. As Jesus, NBA player Ray Allen gives a less- convincing performance. While he arguably does the best acting job of any basketball player to appear in a movie, there are times when Allen isn't the equal of the material. For example, note his stilted delivery during a conversation between Jesus and his sister, Mary (Zelda Harris), early in the film.

The other aspect of He Got Game is the high-pressure salesmanship designed to encourage Jesus to sign a letter of intent with a college or to hire an agent and go pro. While there's something vaguely comical about many of these scenes, Lee conveys the strain that highly- touted, young athletes are under. With surreptitious cash payments and all sorts of perks so readily available, it's understandable why some high-schoolers make the choices and mistakes that they do. In its depiction of this side of the sports business, He Got Game makes an effective companion piece to Hoop Dreams and Blue Chips (which explored college recruiting from the coach's perspective).

Beyond Washington and Allen, Lee has populated the film with a number of credible supporting performers. Zelda Harris (the lead in Crooklyn) is delightful as Jesus' little sister. Rosario Dawson is convincing as Lala, Jesus' sexy girlfriend. Bill Nunn and Hill Harper provide comic relief as Jesus' uncle and cousin, respectively. And Milla Jovovich, best known for her work in The Fifth Element, is surprisingly sympathetic as a down-on-her-luck prostitute who connects with Jake during his week out of prison. There are cameos from the likes of Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, John Thompson, and Reggie Miller.

Stylistically, He Got Game is uneven. From time-to-time, Lee and cinematographer Malik Hassan Sayeed employ certain camera tricks (much as they did in Clockers), including warping the image and switching film stocks. The intention is to draw the viewer deeper into the characters' psyches. However, instead of pulling me in, this approach distanced me from the scene, making me aware that I was watching a movie. I have never been overly fond of such "Oliver Stone-type" flourishes.

Ultimately, the material that comprises He Got Game, while compelling and emotionally- satisfying, is not especially original. In fact, this is essentially a familiar story told with consummate skill. While the father/son reunion gives the film its emotional core, the basketball recruiting sequences provide a cynical edge. Narratively, however, He Got Game is hurt by a contrived setup and a hokey, overly-sentimental final scene. It's the stuff in between that makes this a worthwhile experience, which it surely is.