He Got about 3 1/2 stars worth of Game

by Ryan Ernst
Assistant Sports Editor

With He Got Game, director Spike Lee turns his attention from the floor at Madison Square Garden to the playgrounds of Coney Island.

The film features the acting debut of Milwaukee Bucks star Ray Allen (Jesus Shuttlesworth) and also stars Academy Award winner Denzel Washington as Jake Shuttlesworth, the father of the basketball phenom.

Jake is serving 15 years in prison for his role in his wife's death, and his son is being touted as the best high school basketball player in the nation. With one week left before Jesus must decide on a college to attend, Jake is granted one week of leave from the jail to convince his son to attend Big State, the governor's alma mater. If Jake can succeed, the governor will consider shortening his sentence.

The catch, however, is that Jesus hates his father because of his mother's death and already has a million other people telling him where to attend college.

The film features flashbacks to Jesus's childhood and his mother's death. The film's score consists mostly of Aaron Copland and Public Enemy tracks. Copland is an American classical composer, while Public Enemy is a two-man rap group. The mix is interesting and fits well with many of the basketball scenes.

Although the plot is unbelievable and many of the scenes are overly sentimental, He Got Game has a leg up on most of its sports-movie competitors: Allen can play basketball and play it well.

Not only can he play, but he is surrounded by a cast of teammates made up of NBA players John Wallace, Walter McCarty and Travis Best. Even Denzel played a little college ball.

All these factors combine to make the basketball scenes look real because they are real. Even former NFL-great-turned-actor Jim Brown plays a hard-nosed detective keeping his eye on Jake. And although Lee plays up the hype surrounding Jesus a tad too much, it leads to cameos from stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Scottie Pippen.

But great athletes don't necessarily mean great films. In the end, what separates He Got Game from Hoop Dreams and Hoosiers is the absence of a simple plot line that carries the viewer from beginning to end.

He Got Game features far too many subplots, different characters and relationships to keep the viewer's attention on the key focus - the relationship between father and son.