DIRECTED BY: Ron Shelton
STARRING: Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Tyra Ferrell and Rosie Perez
BUDGET: N/A
EARNED (Worldwide): $90.7m
AWARDS: None
SYNOPSIS
Black and white basketball hustlers join forces to double their chances.
White Men Can’t Jump focuses on two hustling streetballers, Sidney Deane and Billy Hoyle, after their initial encounter they become a partnership for their own agendas and hustle other plays for money and competing in a major two-on-two outdoor tournament.
Sometimes a film comes along that the plot description doesn’t do much justice for the actual end product of a film, but White Men Can’t Jump over two decades on still holds up with it’s themes of loyalty/betrayal and also having a smartly funny penned script, especially with the language used in the basketball court scenes with the energy and spirited verbal deliveries by the cast. It helps that the director Ron Shelton also wrote the script and knows the characters inside out. One could argue that White Men Can’t Jump is one of the best sport films where the sport itself takes a backseat to the reasoning that the characters hustle on the court, in which Sidney does it on the side as his other jobs aren’t going so well to help make enough money to move his family out of the neighbourhood they’re living in while Billy comes across as a compulsive gambler who, on occasions, is the cause of his own misfortunes. Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson are great in the film, especially when they’re playing off each other in the scenes that they share. The women in this film fare well in my view as well, with Rosie Perez as Gloria who is in a relationship with Billy and Tyra Ferrell playing Sidney’s wife Rhonda, both of whom want the pair of them to be more responsible than they are. The arc of Billy and Gloria’s relationship is not forced (even the Jeopardy side-plot) in its delivery and eventual end as the warning signs are played out for us through the film, with Woody Harrelson and Rosie Perez creating terrific chemistry together and bringing history of these characters on screen that feels organic and true. The films end is somewhat unconventional in comparison to other sports films and yet leaves us in high spirits at the end, yet brings a hint of sadness to it, a terrific comedy/sport adventure not to be missed.
FAVOURITE SCENE: The initial scene in which Sidney and Billy cross paths. The conversation between Sidney and Junior before the shootout is hilarious.
FAVOURITE QUOTE: ‘Look man, you can listen to Jimi but you can’t hear him. There’s a difference man. Just because you’re listening to him doesn’t mean you’re hearing him.’ – Sidney Deane
DID YOU KNOW?: According to their basketball instructors, Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson reached the skill level to be able to start for an NCAA Division III team.
Irish Cinephile 