He Got Game

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This is a Father/Son title that tends to lean a bit more toward the aspects of an overbearing father... who has been convicted of murdering his wife, and therefore the son pretty much hates him with the flaming passion of a thousand "sons" (sorry, that was terrible).

Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel Washington) is the father in question, who has just been handed a deal from his warden. If he can get his son, Jesus (Ray Allen), to apply to the college the warden wants him to, he can get a reduced sentence.

Jesus is the most sought after college basketball prospect across America, so every college wants a piece of him. This makes it not only difficult for Jake (who Jesus already hates) to get him to help out, but even his girlfriend, friends and other family seem to want a piece of his fame. Meanwhile Jesus just wants to weigh his options and go to where he ultimately chooses for himself.

Jake also ends up getting a whole side story to himself in which he tries to help out a prostitute named Dakota (Milla Jovovich), and play the whole rescue her from an abusive pimp role. It goes pretty much where one might expect, and is just tied in with the story enough to make it matter. On the other hand, some of the best acting throughout the movie takes place here, so I guess it works out.

The story in a nutshell doesn't sound altogether exciting, but the film is still well acted overall, and its still worth checking out if you're into this kind of thing. That said, it's kind of a product of its time, and not exactly a title people run around talking about, hyping it up (at least not around me). It took place during this weird basketball blast off era, from about the mid 90s to the 2000s. Being released in '98, this one showed up very much in the midst of it all. It was talked about with mixed reviews, but mostly positive, based on Denzel's performance.

So, if you're looking for something involving a basketball prospect and his estranged father, while also sort of but not really being a bit of a "hood movie", check it out. Despite my few nitpicks, there's still a certain warmth that comes off this movie by the end of it all that's worth sticking around for, and Denzel's acting manages to tip the scales in a good way (as usual). So I'm gonna give this one a 3, but really, it's more like a 3.5.

3/5

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