March Madness is coming soon, and it’s time to watch one of the greatest sports films ever, Spike Lee’s epic basketball tale He Got Game.
The Plot
Jesus Shuttlesworth is the greatest high school basketball player ever. He is about to graduate, and every college is looking for him to sign with them. Jake Shuttlesworth is released from prison so that he can convince his son to sign with the governor’s alma mater. If Jesus signs with them, then Jake’s sentence will be reduced by the governor.
Freed from incarceration, Jake has one week to convince his son, and to make amends for what he did. Jake went to prison for killing his wife, and as the father re-enters his son and daughter’s life, we see what the early years were like, and the resentment and hatred Jesus has built up for his dad.
While everyone is trying to get a piece of Jesus for their own advancement, Jake wants what is best for his son, and hopes that Jesus will forgive him. When it comes down to a one on one game between father and son, the hatred that has been buried boils over in Jesus and the two fight it out on the court one last time.
The Good
Spike Lee has made a masterpiece with He Got Game. Not only is it a touching and heartfelt family story about fathers and sons, but the opening montage that Lee uses showcases how basketball is for everyone, whether you are black or white, rich or poor, in the inner city, or the rural countryside, basketball is a game for everyone.
Lee has crafted a detailed intimate story of how fathers push their sons, and how the child grows, survives, resents, and surpasses the parent. He Got Game is one of those films that shows us how difficult a childhood Jesus had, while at the same time not making the character of Jake a despicable monster. He was not father of the year material, but he wasn’t barbaric.
Denzel Washington is the greatest actor of all time. Every film that he leads, the man disappears into the role so completely that everyone in the audience will believe everything that he says to be true and accurate. You don’t see Denzel on screen, you meet a man named Jake, who has made many mistakes, and is trying to correct them. What a performance.
Ray Allen was the perfect choice to play Jesus. Not only is his basketball skill evident, but he plays well off Denzel, that it really makes you feel like this is a strained father/son relationship is real. Viewers will feel the ache and pain of a child who wants to connect with his father but is forced to deal with a hatred and anger that is well justified.
Spike Lee could have made a film just about basketball and he would have created a great film. He could have focused on the family story, and it would have been incredible. What Lee did was make a film that is rooted in basketball, but is about a family that is broken, and shows how society’s inequality towards a player like Jesus Shuttlesworth is endemic in North America’s pursuit of the next great athlete. Everyone in this story wants something from Jesus, but very few just want the best for him.
The Bad and the Ugly
I cannot think of one single thing that is wrong with this film. He Got Game is a classic. If you have a problem with this film, then I have no idea what to say to you.
Beyond the Film Facts
- Kobe Bryant was supposed to play Jesus. He liked the script and wanted to work with Lee but had to bow out for a training program which would have taken place during filming for the movie.
- For some reason He Got Game was ignored at the awards circuit. The only places where the movie was nominated for awards was the Acapulco Black Film Festival, the Image Awards, and the MTV Movie & TV Awards.
- He Got Game was Spike Lee’s first film to premiere at the number one spot at the box office.
- The movie was shot in 23 days.
- Hill Harper might play a teenager in the film, but he was 31 at the time of filming.
- Ray Allen has often spoken about wanting to do a sequel to the film. He and Lee have talked about doing a follow up film where it follows Jesus at the end of his career.
- This is the first film in Lee’s repertoire in which Lee did not have a major speaking role in the movie.
- Rosario Dawson was 18 at the time of the filming.
- Spike Lee has often talked about the one on one scene between Allen and Washington. In the original script, Jesus was to win easily with a score of 15-0. According to Lee, Washington took his instructions to play for real, and proceeded to score the first four baskets. Lee explains on the podcast Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period, that Allen wasn’t happy with this and complained to the director. Lee responded jokingly that he guessed Denzel treated the game for real. Allen proceeded to score the remaining baskets.
The Streamy Award
{The following four categories are based on a Film Reel scale.
1 Reel-Bored and Killing Time, 2 Reels-When You Have Some Time, 3 Reels-Make Some Time, 4 Reels-Big Screen Event}
He Got Game is a 4 Reels event film. Take some time and enjoy this epic ode to the game of basketball. Sit and marvel at the performance that Denzel Washington gives and think of all the awards that have been given out to actors who don’t do half of the work that this man does in this movie.
Spike Lee is immeasurably talented, and a gifted filmmaker. He Got Game is one of his best, and a must see.
Cast and Crew
- Denzel Washington as Jake Shuttlesworth
- Ray Allen as Jesus Shuttlesworth
- Zelda Harris as Mary Shuttlesworth
- Rosario Dawson as Lala Bonilla
- Milla Jovovich as Dakota Burns
- Hill Harper as “Booger” Sykes
- Jim Brown as Spivey
- Ned Beatty as Warden Wyatt
Directed by Spike Lee
Produced by Touchstone Pictures / 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
Release Date: May 1, 1998
Budget: $25 million
Box Office Gross
Domestic: $21,567,853
Coming Soon
Next week, a look at Melanie Griffith’s thriller A Stranger Among Us.