THE 6TH MAN
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1997 Scott Renshaw
(Touchstone) Starring: Marlon Wayans, Kadeem Hardison, David Paymer, Michael Michele. Screenplay: Christopher Reed and Cynthia Carle. Producer: David Hoberman. Director: Randall Miller. MPAA Rating: PG-13 (profanity, mild sexual content) Running Time: 105 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
I wasn't sure I would be able to enjoy THE 6TH MAN as a wacky comedy, given the uncomfortable familiarity of the plot. In 1990, All-American forward Hank Gathers of Loyola Marymount University died of a congenital heart ailment in the middle of one of his team's final regular season games, a tragedy which took on even more mythic proportions when his under-manned team went on an improbable run through the NCAA championship tournament before losing to eventual champion Nevada-Las Vegas. Gathers' death affected me as profoundly as any celebrity tragedy ever has, and I cringed at the idea of that event being turned into a source of supernatural hijinks. Perhaps that's why I was so pleasantly surprised to discover how much heart THE 6TH MAN turned out to have. Though slapstick is definitely part of the mix, there is a genuinely affecting human story at the core of this film which outweighs its occasional clumsiness.
THE 6TH MAN is the story of two brothers playing for the University of Washington Huskies basketball team: Antoine Tyler (Kadeem Hardison), the team's senior leader and superstar, and Kenny Tyler (Marlon Wayans), a junior who has lived his life in Antoine's shadow. The Huskies are having one of their best seasons in years, contending for the Pac-10 championship, when tragedy strikes. In the middle of a key game, Antoine suffers a heart attack and dies, leaving the team heart-broken and disoriented. No one is more heart-broken than Kenny, who asks his departed brother for help when he struggles with the new leadership role asked of him. Much to his astonishment, he gets that help: Antoine appears as a ghost visible only to Kenny, offering to help the Kenny and the rest of the team. Thus begins a surge for the NCAA tournament when strange breaks seem to be going the Huskies' way, drawing the attention of sports writer R. C. St. John (Michael Michele).
THE 6TH MAN is a fantasy of course, but close followers of Pac-10 basketball will appreciate that it's not just the presence of ghostly activity which makes the film fantastic. Not only are Washington and Stanford in this film's Final Four, but dismissed head coaches Todd Bozeman of California and Jim Harrick of UCLA are still sitting on their respective teams' benches in game footage; if that doesn't qualify as fantasy, I'm not sure what does. THE 6TH MAN is certainly targeted at college basketball fans given its release during Final Four weekend, but the on-court action is often awkwardly photographed with too many close-ups and choppy editing. For a film about college basketball, THE 6TH MAN generally doesn't try very hard to re-create the fan excitement or game situations of the sport.
Of course, THE 6TH MAN isn't a documentary. It's a comedy, and occasionally it's a very funny one. Marlon Wayans turns in an extremely entertaining and energetic physical performance as Kenny, who has to do a lot of solo acting as though he is being hassled by his invisible older brother -- hugs, head-locks, wrestling matches and other practical jokes. It's fun, if somewhat predictable stuff, mostly because Wayans is able to sell it with enthusiasm. He gets a bit of supporting help from Hardison and from David Paymer (as the Huskies' coach), but with a cast composed largely of former college basketball players (including Lorenzo Orr and Travis Ford), Wayans has to carry the most of the humorous moments on his shoulders.
Fortunately, THE 6TH MAN is actually more enjoyable when it's not a comedy. Some of the character material is unnecessary -- notably the attempt at a romantic relationship between Kenny and R. C. (yes, Michael Michele is a woman) -- but the sibling story-line is extremely effective. A short flashback opening shows Antoine and Kenny as kids on their father's youth league team, setting up a relationship where Kenny always depends on the more talented Antoine to hit the winning shot or make the spectacular play. When Kenny calls on Antoine for help, he believes he doesn't have it in him to be a star, and having his ghostly brother around gives him an excuse not to try. It is only when Antoine begins to go a bit too far on the court that Kenny decides to make an identity for himself apart from being Antoine's brother. One of the nicer touches in THE 6TH MAN is that Antoine isn't made into an angel on the hardwood; he's the same mildly obnoxious ball-hog in death that he was in life, a big brother who thinks he always knows best. The interaction between the two brothers, squabbles and all, is what makes THE 6TH MAN more than the formulaic Disney silliness you might expect. In spite of some erratic pacing and uneven comedy, THE 6TH MAN has the emotional content to give a tragedy the weight it deserves, as well as the entertainment it needs.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 ghost offenses: 6.
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