HE GOT GAME
Reviewed by Harvey Karten, Ph.D. Touchstone Pictures Director: Spike Lee Writer: Spike Lee Cast: Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, Milla Jovovich, Rosario Dawson, Hill Harper, Zelda Harris, Ned Beatty, Jim Brown
Basketball is described in Spike Lee's latest movie as "poetry in motion," but Lee attaches a cynical twist to that notion. We may root for our home team, but those of us who were not born yesterday know that the game is not one propelled exclusively by the fancy of an inspired muse but one which is driven by the attraction of cold cash. In "He Got Game," just about everyone jumps through hoops to make up for some lack: what is missing is not identification with a club sporting your town on their shirts and jackets but the avariciosu want of currency. One guy wants money to buy the latest Nike shoes, another for a Lexus, and a great many can put the coin of the realm to good use to buy their way out of the Coney Island projects. In many cases, then, the name of the game is not basketball.
But for Jesus Shuttlesworth (Ray Allen), basketball is not the means to an unrelated end but a purpose in itself. In "He Got Game," Allen--actually a pro basketball player with the Milwaukee Bucks who can really act--plays a graduating high school student in Spike Lee's native Brooklyn who has received so many offers from colleges that he needs time to consider his options. Surprisingly enough, money does not seem uppermost in his mind: this can be explained by his disgust for the greed of those surrounding him. Everyone wants a piece of Jesus. A slick sports agent for a pro team shows him his Long Island home, which boasts a stable of cars worth well over a million and a basketball court built right into the dwelling that could have been used for four bedrooms. His girl friend Lala (Rosario Dawson), realizing that she will lose Jesus when he goes off to college, cuts a deal with an agent for her own financial gain. His foster father wants the lad to buy him a home in Long Island in return for his paternal services over the years. But the most unusual exploitation comes from his own dad, Jake (Denzel Washington), who is promised time off from his manslaughter term in Attica if he can persuade his son to enroll in the governor's favorite college.
Despite the very natural desire of people to strive for their own gain, it is ultimately Jesus's father who transcends selfish advantage by breaking through to his deeply hostile son. After all, when you witness your mom's violent death at the hands of your dad--even if your father did not desire her demise--you are not going to take kindly to his influence. To Spike Lee's credit, the writer-director has his audience acutely moved by Jake's plight, rooting for him to re-acquaint himself with the antagonistic young man, while at the same time indicating Jake's dark side in a series of flashbacks throughout the 131-minute story. Truth to tell what saves "He Got Game" from a hackneyed albeit well-told narrative is Lee's camerawork. Coney Island, which forms the backdrop to the account, has never looked so beautiful, with even the freak show taking on the dimensions of a cultural institutions and Nathan's hot dog emporium substituting for Lutece. The final image, Jake Shuttlesworth's coming full circle in his relationship with Jesus, is priceless.
Though "He Got Game" is at heart a sentimental yarn about the fragile bonds connecting father and son, and though Mr. Lee appears to disapprove of the material base which underlies both college and professional sports, the director shows an affinity for the game of basketball. Using slow- motion photography, he does indeed prove that his hoop dream is poetry in motion, as Malik Hassan Sayeed's camera follows the orb on its recurrent expeditions to the basket. Denzel Washington, sporting a retro Afro above an expansive breadth of facial hair, is not too convincing when playing Jake's dark side, but when he turns on the nostalgia he evokes compassion in all but the hardest of audience hearts. Ray Allen is surprisingly good as the movie's answer to Michael Jordan and Rosario Dawson as girl friend Lala, Milla Jovovich as the hooker who is saved by Jake, Ned Beatty as Warden Wyatt and John Turturro in an uncredited role as a big college coach provide a worthy ensemble. The director roasts whites and blacks alike for their avarice and brutality, delightfully exaggerating the extent to which universities will go to bring jocks to their campuses--even using bimbos to feign instant infatuation with these alpha males. Like the others, Jake is out for himself, motivated by a need to get out of Attica. But he alone shows a real concern for his boy. If we are not for ourselves, who will be, writer Lee implies. But as the prophet Hillel continues, if I am not for others, what am I? Rated R. Running time: 131 minutes. (C) Harvey Karten 1998
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