Movies
JUMP BALL Ray Allen and Washington go one-on-one in "He Got Game"
Credits
B+
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is a film critic for EW
In Spike Lee’s passionately ambitious new movie, Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel Washington), a convicted murderer, is let out of prison on an unofficial furlough. He has one week to convince his son, the greatest high school basketball player in the country, to attend college at the New York governor’s alma mater. Lest we have any doubt about what the stakes are, Jake’s son is named Jesus (he’s played by Milwaukee Bucks guard Ray Allen). Lee does a dazzling job of evoking the whirlwind of temptation that’s buffeting Jesus, and Washington, as the sad-sack Jake, gives a meticulous, implosive performance—though the lackadaisical desperation of his “street” manner is never entirely convincing.
Posted May 14, 1998
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You Might Also Like
- Video Review He Got Game | Michael Sauter
- Movie Review He Got Game (1998) | Owen Gleiberman
- Movie News Spike Lee plays ''He Got Game'' (1998) | Chris Nashawaty
- Movie News Spring Movie Preview (May 29, 1998)
- Video News New on Video | Gary Eng Walk
- Awards ''Debaters,'' ''Grey's'' win at Image Awards (Dec 25, 2007)
