Lee's attack on how big business is not only ruining the game he loves but also playing with people's lives is direct and brave, while his passion, insight and intelligence are evident and admirable.
Comment
03/25/08
He Got Game (1998)
81 %
Reviews Counted: 59 Fresh: 48 Rotten:11 Average Rating: 6.9/10
Consensus:
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.
Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins
Synopsis: 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. His son, Jesus (Ray Allen), is the best high school basketball player in the country. One week... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, Milla Jovovich, Bill Nunn, Jim Brown
Reviews
Top Critic
Most scenes play too long, with a surplus of ideas, textures, tones and characters, and after 134 minutes it's clear Lee's problem with closure hasn't gone away.
02/09/06
Top Critic
After a couple of seriously worrying missteps, Lee is back at the top of his game, positioning himself as one of the best American filmmakers of his day.
01/01/00
Top Critic
Lacking the moral indignation and militant politics of Lee's former work, this vibrantly colorful father-son melodrama is soft at the center, but it's one of the most accessible films Lee has made and Denzel Washington is terrific.
03/25/08
Top Critic
At the end of Mr. Lee's movie, all you feel is the distraction of Mr. Lee's stylistic exhibitionism, without which, I concede, he might not be regarded as a genius in some quarters.
04/27/07
[Lee] gets a charming performance from Allen, who, in his acting debut, occupies his pedestal with grace and diffidence.
03/25/07
Though too long by a good half hour, Lee's latest film packs a genuine emotional punch.
03/25/07
As usual, Lee tries many kinds of stylistic effects and uses wall-to-wall music (by Aaron Copland and Public Enemy); what’s different this time is how personally driven the story feels.
03/25/07
Lee paints intimate characters who are about more than the game. Themes of integrity, honesty, loyalty and familial love are woven through the film resulting in a complex, thought-provoking human drama.
04/09/05
Shrewdly exposes the underbelly of college recruiting and the pressures exerted on talented high school basketball stars.
06/28/04
It is a wonderful thing to watch two artists work so well together. I am speaking, in this case, of Spike Lee and Denzel Washington.
02/08/03
The hypocritical misogyny of He Got Game is a fundamental weakness that reviewers so far have been happy to downplay or even to dismiss.
01/10/03
Lee should have drawn up a tighter game plan but just the same his hoops hoopla still has enough game (mostly in the form of Washington) to win over the audience.
12/08/02
Only a director as good as Spike Lee could make a coherent movie out of this messy, jejune set-up ...
07/31/02
Washington's Jake Shuttlesworth looks tough and hard, an odd but refreshing turn for an actor long associated with handsomely heroic roles.
06/18/02
Related Forums
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