he got game
View company contact information for He Got Game on IMDbPro. [1]
Though not without its flaws, He Got Game finds Spike Lee at or near the top of his late-period game, combining trenchant commentary with his signature visuals and a strong performance from Denzel Washington. [2]
Forget the cuts — if someone ever wrote a book called “How The Wrong Soundtrack Can Submarine a Movie,” there’s a 99.999999-percent chance that “He Got Game” would be Chapter One. [3]
… there’s a trade-off — Jake must talk his son, Jesus Shuttlesworth (NBA star Ray Allen of the Milwaukee Bucks), the top-ranked high-school basketball player in the country, into signing with the governor’s alma mater, Big State. [4]
A basketball player’s father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter sentence. [1]
The father of the top-ranked basketball prospect in the country, Jesus Shuttlesworth (played by NBA star Ray Allen), Jake is released on parole for a week by the state’s governor in order to persuade his son to play for the governor’s alma mater in exchange for a heavily-reduced prison sentence. [...] The father is temporarily released by the governor, an influential alum of one of the colleges Jesus is considering, so that he might direct his son to sign with the governor’s college in return for an early release. [...] It stars Denzel Washington as Jake Shuttlesworth, a prison inmate convicted for murdering his wife. [5]
Spike Lee turns his attention to the high-stakes world of basketball with this charged drama. [...] Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel Washington) is serving 15 years for playing a role in the death of his wife…. [2]
Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel Washington) has been in prison for six years when tough prison-warden Wyatt (Ned Beatty) tells him that he’s getting a temporary parole with the promise of a commuted sentence. [4]
No sports movie needs a futuristic editing machine more than “He Got Game.” [3]
For the scene where Jesus and Jake play for the letter of intent, the original script called for Jesus to win 15-0. [1]
Denzel Washington and writer-director Spike Lee team for the third time with this contemporary basketball drama focusing on a promising athlete, the son of a convict-father. [4]
Response to the movie was largely favorable, with movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes showing it receiving 80% favorable reviews, praising Lee’s artfulness, commentary, and honest connection to human characters. [5]
Sources:
[1] He Got Game (1998)
[2] He Got Game Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
[3] ESPN.com: Page 2 : Sports Guy’s Top Sports Movies: No. 40
[4] He Got Game | Movies.com
[5] He Got Game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia