He Got Game

I had season tickets the year that the Milwaukee Bucks went to the Eastern Conference Finals and lost to Allen Iverson's 76ers (Oh, hi, Tim Donaghy) so I am obligated by Wisconsin law to approve of this movie, but, no, Ray Allen is not a great actor.

A young man deciding which college to go to for his basketball career is a great story to use for drama, tension, and conflict -- it's done superbly here, especially with the addition of his family tragedy and his incarcerated dad's plea bargain. Washington is, unsurprisingly, powerful, the filming of the basketball playing is authentic (for a change), and there's a handful of montages that Lee is (or should be) well known for. It's also overly-stuffy with some pointless story/character tangents

Fantastic and heartfelt piece of work by Spike Lee. Seems to take the conventions of a family drama and turn them on their head. The characterization is solid - I especially liked the moral shades of grey inherent in each character and of course the way the actors portray this. Denzel Washington is brilliant. It rises above a lot of the cliches it uses and subverts by being absolutely genuine - and never once does Lee let his pervasive and striking social commentary interrupt the family plot.

I watched this when I was a wee teen. I liked it a lot more back then. Some enjoyable things are now I know what a Spike Lee directed basketball documentary would look like and visually, I dig it. Denzel is solid, of course, but Ray Allen is not winning any awards. Did this really need to be over 2 hours? It's not that complex of a plot to need it, the Kid just needs to make a choice and has a lot of people pulling him in different directions and he's feeling the pressure. 2.5 hours of this?

Man, it just spoke to me at such an emotional level. I have a similar level of obsession with basketball as Lee and this movie as a tribute to the game of basketball with all its promises and warts is awesome. It is sad that the hypocritical, abusive College Sports system has only recently lost its cartel on kids like Jesus and the whole story of getting out of the hood, those who were left behind, the vultures, the timeless father/son dilemma... You can feel it it is made with love, this film.

Comes alive every time the tour de force giving Denzel is on screen or a game is being played, but drops in the drama moments in between. Which gets worst more and more cause it’s too long. That Ray Allen is a wooden actor whose screen charisma pales compared to Denzel doesn’t help either. Above all the movie suffers from a heavy-handed score. It’s not a bad movie, it benefits from being solidly directed and well written, but it could have been one of Lee’s top instead of lower tier movies.

69.00

Bit too polished and squeaky clean compared to my fav Spike joints but the social commentary in this one is rock solid.

Alright, I think I'm done with Spike Lee joints. Dude just does not know how to pace a scene. Or establish stakes. What are the stakes? Why does it matter to me if the kid goes to the university his dad needs him to go to? There doesn't seem to be any downside for him, so obviously it doesn't matter who wins the game at the end. Why should I care about anything in this movie? Also it's interesting to know that Spike can give his movie an awful musical score without Terence Blanchard's help.

Washington is great, Allen's surprisingly competent for an athlete, and their relationship as the emotional crux of the picture works, but the movie is bogged down by questionable romantic subplots and a distractingly bad musical score.

He Got Game was arguably the turning point for Spike lee's career: it represented the height of his self indulgent tendencies as a film maker. It's over written, over directed, preachy, messy, undisciplined, unfocused, (stylistically) incohesive and borderline incoherent. Yet it remains fascinating all the same. Lee's critique of professional sport was timely upon release, and the father-son dynamic between Washington and Allen is effective despite the cliches.

This movie is a mess. Somewhere wrapped up in all the wooden performances, cliched characters, awkward dialogue, hammed up soundtrack, and gratituitous sex is a father-son reconciliation story. An absurd hooker with a heart of gold subplot is shoehorned in as well. Yet another overrated Spike Lee joint...

One of Spike Lee's best in recent memory. While it suffers from Lee's often overly long scenes and the completely pointless Jovovich, his beautiful direction and a great performance from Denzel makes He Got Game a pretty powerful father-son-saga.

Both Ray Allen and Denzel Washington are excellent in this film. The script is interesting as it takes a serious look at the importance of sports in the American culture. I would recommend this interesting drama.

Desperately wishing for the father-son dynamic to be explored further. - 12/19/13

74.000

A conflicted father and son story, and probably the best basketball movie made. Not that that says much.

The hot blondes are the best part. Denzel almost beats Ray Allen in one on one too.

I don't feel He Got Game is inferior to Hoop Dreams. It's Lee's imagining of story behind a fraction of Hoop Dreams and a good one at that.

Spike Lee and Denzel have always worked well together and this is no exception. Mind you Ray Allen's acting was okay and the hooker subplot kinda slowed down the flow of the movie but Spike shows he is a capable storyteller and doesn't shy away from showing the true side of things.

Why such low ratings, is it because of Spike Lee?

Great film.

I felt Ray Allen was poorly cast here, and that pulled the whole film down. Not that I think Ray Allen would ever be a good casting decision.

Every now and again, a bit of the dialogue shines. I'm supposing the shots that are jerky or dark or out-of-focus are supposed to be, creating a more "documentary" look, or something? Fortunately, Spike throws in little sex snippets to keep our interest, and Denzel's empty-faced acting fits his character.

solid when dealing with father and son relationship

No comment!

Ray Allen is an absolutely awful actor but thats not his job so I can't really complain. Spike Lee could've done a way better job considering how much he loves basketball

The most underrated Spike Lee flick ever.

A much overlooked gem by Lee and one of his best.

A terrific look at the life of a college star.

i feel that this is the best all around denzel movie. ray allen's talent suprised me in a good way. this is one of those sports classics that i will never forget.