Lee's best since Malcolm X

Rating: 8/10 (3 September 1999)

He Got Game is without a doubt one of the best films of 1998. Spike Lee's story and direction are very near flawless and the use of a symphonic score to go with a few songs by Public Enemy make the visuals all the more appealing.
If Spike Lee has the vision to make this film what it is, then Denzel Washington must be credited for making it believable. His performance is flawless as a imperfect man who has a chance to redeem himself by convincing his alienated son to play for a certain college basketball team. The story of redemption between the father and son is at times lacking, but still holds true. The scope of emotion isn't always shown by Ray Allen who plays Jesus Shuttlesworth, an amazing basketball prodigy who will one day by the next Jordan of the NBA. He shows more emotion when arguing with his girlfriend rather than in the scenes when it is really needed, like when his father returns. Allen though isn't an actor, he is a real NBA basketball player and must be credited for his performance. Rosario Dawson must also be credited for a great performance as Lala, Jesus' girlfriend. She steals all of her scenes, even those with Washington, as the girlfriend who realizes that once Jesus leaves, she will be left with nothing.
Aaron Copland's score (chosen by Lee?) also plays a huge role. The beginning basketball montage is amazing, showing the diversity of those who play and love the game. Rather than using an all-rap soundtrack like most other basketball films, the symphonic sounds make the film a lot less aggressive and a lot more heartwarming. Not to take anything away from Public Enemy's He Got Game which is used well at the end of the film.
Some have said that the sexual content in this film is too much and unnecessary. I have to disagree, since it is used to show the realism of college basketball. Those who think it is all books and study and a weekly game are right off the mark. It is a lot more drugs, sex and cars than most would realize. If anything is overplayed, it is the fact that the main characters name is Jesus. So much of the film is unnecessarily spent on determining why his name his Jesus, the pain he feels because of how he was always being bugged about his name and the whole deal about his new basketball stardom being called "the second coming of Jesus". This was too much to take and was distracting from what Lee was really trying to say.

A full recommendation for this film, even worth a DVD purchase.
8/10 stars.