Slam dunk

Rating: 7/10 (3 February 1999)

I've never been one for sports dramas or comedies. Anything from A League of Their Own to Space Jam just doesn't work for me, mostly because of the Deus Ex Machina nature of happy endings. Kingpin has been the only movie that avoids this overdone cliché.
BASEketball doesn't avoid the ticking clock, last-minute win, but it does give us lots of sight gags and random madness. Though I don't want to sell it short, the film is also a biting satire on modern sports and corporate sponsorship, something that I feel has spoiled sports across the whole planet. Many players no longer play for the love of the game, but for themselves, for obscene amounts of money.
As with his other movies (such as Airplane or Naked Gun), David Zucker makes sure there's at least one gag every thirty seconds. Many fail, but most work, so the film stays on our good side if you only want laughs and couldn't care less about satire.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are a great comic pair, and have absolutely no shame or delusions. But an even funnier comedy duo are the real life sports commentators Bob Costas and Al Michaels, who have the funniest lines and most perfect delivery.
It's become a little dated now, a fault of movies that have too many pop-culture references, but there's still plenty to laugh at and enjoy with BASEketball.