He Got Game (1998)
Director: Spike Lee Cast: Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, Rosario Dawson, Milla Jovovich, Hill Harper, Zelda Harris, Jennifer Esposito, Bill Nunn, Ned Beatty Screenplay: Spike Lee Producers: Jon Kilik, Spike Lee Runtime: 131 min. US Distribution: Buena Vista/Hollywood Rated R: violence, sex, drugs, language
By Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)
I think I've said this before (well, I know I've said this before)--I'm not a sports person. Sports talk doesn't interest me. Professional sports don't interest me. Football, basketball, baseball -- these things don't interest me. I don't hate them, but sports alone can not hold my attention. I have the utmost respect for Spike Lee for creating a film that has a lot to do with basketball and keeping me compelled and interested through its entire length.
What one must realize when approaching He Got Game is that it's not really about basketball: it's about the complicated relationship between a father and his son. That's not, by a longshot, all there is to this film -- Lee takes on a lot of subplots and themes, and the result is a far-reaching and ambitious picture. Though it is a fascinating character study and often very powerful, the film seems to overflow with messages at times, and Lee never quite finds the right note for tone and atmosphere.
The father mentioned above is Jake Shuttleworth (Denzel Washington). He's a convicted felon (finding out why is part of the film, so I can't tell you) serving his sentence in prison; early in the film, he's approached by the warden (Ned Beatty) with an offer -- he has one week to convince his own son, Jesus (Ray Allen) to attend Big State University. Jesus is the nation's number one high school basketball player, and he's expected to easily make it into the NBA, and perhaps end up the greatest player of all time.
It's a difficult time in Jesus' life, for he has many universities pressuring him to sign into their program, and he's waiting until the last possible second to make his decision. He's also suddenly saddled with a life of fame, though he still lives in the projects with his sister, Mary (Zelda Harris). Jake agrees to the job, and immediately goes to see his children. Mary is happy to see him, but Jesus won't even acknowledge him as his father. This is where the conflict arises.
The father/son relationship of He Got Game is the central theme, and Lee handles this aspect of the film with detailed care and respect. Washington is superb here (as he always is), and manages to convey the desperation of a man trapped in an impossible situation. Midway through the film, he meets a prostitute named Dakota (Milla Jovovich), whom he seems to really care for, and this subplot helps to characterize him further. Lee and Washington both do a fantastic job creating this fascinating man.
The other half of the relationship is portrayed effectively by Ray Allen. Allen does an excellent job playing a naive high school student who is suddenly and inexplicably confronted with a chance at greatness. His reaction to his father is also very well done, and the scenes between the two men are engaging -- they dynamics between the characters work so well that it's impossible not to admire this film for these scenes. There are a lot of supporting characters (and a few cameos), and all of them are colorful and interesting; Jovovich (last seen in The Fifth Element) really stands out, as does young Zelda Harris.
As well as the central themes in He Got Game work, there just seems to be a little too much padding, both in story and in execution. The cinematography Malik Hassen Sayeed is interesting, but he employs a lot of strange tricks (fade-to-white is a common one) that are intended to draw the viewer in, but instead they just distance us from what's happening on screen. Aaron Copland's musical score is fantastic, but it doesn't always fit the mood of the film: when Jake and Jesus have a climactic one-on-one game, Copland's heavy strings and classical-sounding themes made me too aware of the music, and the best scores blend in and add to the overall image without being distracting.
There's also a lot of sex, and these scenes border on soft-porn (example -- two college girls are waiting for Jesus when he goes to visit a university, and . . . you know the rest). And there's a long, violent interlude during which a strange individual briefs Jesus on all of the drugs and sex he'll be missing if he goes away to school. I'm not too certain why Lee wanted to be so explicit with the sex and violence (there are several scenes like the ones described above), but it seems to detract from what this film is really about.
And what this film really is about is the relationship between Jake and Jesus. Jesus' hatred for his father is deep and potent, and, inversely, Jake's love for his son is equally powerful -- every scene between the two is electric and intense. Spike Lee and his actors pull off this central relationship so perfectly that the extras on the outside are only minor detractors. He Got Game, even in its strangest moments, is a compelling and engrossing experience.
*** out of **** (7/10, B)
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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