KellenKing My favorite basketball film! Denzel is amazing in "He Got Game". This film is gritty and raw. It feels quite real, partly because of the acting of Ray Allen and the fact that he is an actual athlete. Nothing is held back, and that's what makes the movie so beautiful.

tieman64 A morality tale by Spike Lee, "He Got Game" stars Denzel Washington as Jake, a convict who attempts to reconnect with his basketball star son. But are Jake's intentions pure or is he, like everyone else in Lee's film, attempting to profit off his son's newfound fame? "He Got Game" is cartoonish, heavy-handed and awkwardly juggles satire and neorealism. It's also filled with countless powerful sequences, most of which are simple conversations involving Washington. Elsewhere Jake connects with a white prostitute (Milla Jovovich), his relationship with her recalling those who attempt to seduce his own son. Everyone's a sycophant, manoeuvring for a dollar, trading false smiles and falser platitudes. When the black man gets money, the leaches come out.Like most of Lee's films, "Game" individualises problems. Integrity, temptation, loyalty etc are seen to be problems to be personally negotiated and not symptoms of a wider social failing; do the right thing, Lee believes, and everything will be alright. Broadening the film's themes are the film's signature song, Public Enemy's "He Got Game". "Damn the game if it ain't saying nothing," their lyrics proclaim, before advising Lee's heroes to "pay attention to the game behind the game", in which "the devil makes the rules" and "folk don't own themselves but pay mental rent to presidents". Lee would immortalise Public Enemy in "Do The Right Thing" many years earlier, though again their lyrics ("Fight the Power") were out of sync with Lee's reductive message of individual responsibility."Game" stars NBA's Ray Allen as Jake's son, a bit of casting which lends the film's court sessions extra authenticity. As is typical of Lee, the film's women are poorly written, except for a character played by Rosario Dawson. She's your archetypal temptress, but only, Lee makes it clear, because nobody else is looking out for her financial future. Presumably this justifies all the product placement in the film, as well as Lee's infamous side-career, marketing overpriced Nikes to inner-city blacks.It's Denzel who really elevates things, though. The man with the coolest walk in showbiz, "Game" soars whenever Washtingon is on screen. Unfortunately it's a performance which Lee constantly undermines with unnecessary pyrotechnics. Lee is a man of excess. Denzel is too, but he's cool. Lee wishes he were.7.9/10 – Veers from powerful to terrible. See "Red Hook Summer", a Spike joint which rectifies most of the problems encountered here. Worth one viewing.

jeremy3 This movie tried to tell a story about one black basketball player's life by trying to put every possible conflict rolled in one. It didn't work. This movie was an eyesore. The music was very good. However, the plot wasn't. The movie was misogynist. The only good women were the immediate relatives. All other women were portrayed as just users and objects. The girl friend of the basketball star (Ray Allen) was not seen sympathetically at all. She was just there for him. The message was she had no hopes and dreams of her own, other than to be around the basketball star.The part about the basketball star going to the white college and having white women fall all over and have orgasms is nonsense. Black basketball players have to be careful, because there are lots of women out to scream sexual assault, etc. And even the most self-disrespecting women wouldn't just automatically fall all over a black basketball player, even if he were Michael Jordan.The most ridiculous thing was when Denzel Washington's character returns home and his son doesn't trust him. At first, one thinks "okay, forgive the father". Then, you find out that the father accidentally killed his wife in a fit of rage. Okay, I know lots of people who are mad at their father about things less than that. You can't tell me that a son wouldn't want to have nothing to do with the father after this incident.Then there was the Hispanic drug dealer. Was he working with the City Of New York? He's driving around the basketball star telling him every sin that is out there. That doesn't sound like a street smart drug dealer, looking out for his interests. That sounds like someone hired to give a young man a lecture.I am sorry that this film was destroyed by all this. There was a lot of good in the film that was marred by all this. For example, life is very hard. The song by Public Enemy at the end was probably the best way too summarize about the hardship of life in Brooklyn. I think that Spike Lee was trying to be like Scorsese, but not the Scorsese of Mean Streets. Mean Streets was Scorsese's debut masterpiece. He Got Game was more like the mediocre and overrated Taxi Driver. The movie wandered all over the place trying to make a moral point, but failing at every turn.

fingerscut It's hard to write a review for a sports movie, there's just a different standard for them. Their plots are usually contrived to a level of laser precision. They seem almost designed to make you feel good, which while admirable in the scheme of life, just isn't good film making.For us sports fans, a sports film that comes across as 'above average' instantly becomes classic. This hardly seems fair, just because the film had some scenes of athletic competion doesn't mean it shouldn't have to face the same standards as the rest of the silver screen.But this is a movie that goes against that grain. It's sincerely good by anyone's standards. The acting, even that of NBA Star Ray Allen's, is on-par with anything else out there. Bonus points for any film where Denzel Washington isn't playing Denzel Washington(even though I enjoy many of those films).Beautifully shot, the cinematography throws a pinpoint assist to the script and makes normally great scenes memorable and occasionally transcendent. The film hits with such power that it really exposes other sports movies for the fluff that they really are. Spike Lee manages to create a film that, while deep in the world of basketball, still can appeal to a non-sports fan. Unlike the 2006 USA Team, this movie is destined for gold! And, my apologies for the "Assist" thing, there's really no excuse. Same the the "Gold" thing. Still, watch the movie. 8 of 10.