A Spike Lee joint that doesn't disappoint

Rating: 10/10 (29 January 2000)

Sports movies are hard to make, if just because the filmmaker has to stay within the traditional structures of a picture while incorporating exciting sports sequences that do not appear contrived or rehearsed. In that sense, hiring Ray Allen to play Jesus Shuttlesworth, the movie's central figure ( even if Denzel Washington is unbelievable and tends to overshine in every scene he is in), because we know he can really play ball, but also that he has been through a lot of the stress his character is going through (that is choosing his future college, all the while being hyped "the greatest thing to happen to bball since the tennis shoe was invented"). Granted Allen is no method actor, but he is more than OK. I probably am biased since basketball is such an important part of my life, but at least I can say that this is the greatest ball movie ever to have hit the screen. Some of the themes may be unfamiliar to some, but all in all the movie is moving and thought-inducing without being sanctimonious, which is all too rare in today's media-rule-all world. The intro alone, with the great idea of having put Aaron Copland music, illustrates how important basketball is in America and to the lives of millions. If you're a bball fan watch it immediately, if you're not give it a try anyway !