![]() A stilted, robotic Harlow delivers these barbs with little bite and even less conviction. Similar to Billy, through trash-talking, Jeremy baits Black players into games for money. He hopes to one day earn enough money to retool his ligaments through stem cells so he might go for the G-league. He was once a college basketball great, but two shredded ACLs kept him from maximizing his potential. Jeremy (a monotone Jack Harlow) is a grifting personal trainer toting an NPR bag and selling detoxing, organic juice to his basketball clients. In Calmatic’s hands, their screenplay-which sees the former film as outdated (more on that in a bit)-undoes much of Shelton’s nimble work. That is, unless you’re screenwriters Kenya Barris and Doug Hall. It’s a smart, agile story that still holds contemporary relevance. Billy and Sidney soon form a hard-earned understanding, ultimately competing in a two-man tournament that reveals the true character of each man. Since Black folks often underestimate white people’s basketball prowess, traveling with his girlfriend Gloria ( Rosie Perez), he hustles pick-up basketball games, such as the one played by streetballer Sidney Deane ( Wesley Snipes), to earn some cash. ![]() It inverted stereotypes to reveal other stereotypes bouncing on the surface through Billy Doyle ( Woody Harrelson), a white former college basketball great now saddled with a major gambling debt, traveling across the country to avoid his creditors. Writer/director Ron Shelton’s “White Men Can’t Jump” displayed a certain deft touch that this new version sorely lacks.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |