He Got Game . Tucson Weekly . 05-03-98

He Got Game

DIRECTED BY: Spike Lee

REVIEWED: 05-03-98

Spike Lee can't help himself--he's always taking on the grand themes, with varying levels of success. Here, he takes on The Game, i.e. Life, i.e. Basketball--and he scores! We Got Game is a long, ambitious movie about the country's best high-school basketball player negotiating the difficult terrain of success. Everyone wants a piece of Jesus Shuttlesworth (Ray Allen), a focused, talented, and personable kid--including his father Jake (Denzel Washington), a murderer who's been let out of prison briefly to try to persuade Jesus to sign up with a university referred to only by the Kafkaesque moniker, "Big State." The plot is so contrived that it actually turns a corner and becomes believable again. (Who could make this up?) Somehow Lee pulls it all off with aplomb. His filmmaking style is as fresh and wonderfully visual as ever, and the story has some of the heart-stabbing tension of Hoop Dreams. The score is by Aaron Copeland and Public Enemy--which gives some indication of Lee's territorial range.

--Richter

Full Length Reviews
He Got Game
He Got Game

Capsule Reviews
He Got Game
He Got Game
He Got Game

Other Films by Spike Lee
Clockers
Four Little Girls
Get On the Bus
Girl 6
Summer of Sam

Film Vault Suggested Links
Yellow
Critical Care
Wide Awake

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