Review of He Got Game (1998) by Adam K — 02 Oct 2009

Ah Spike,.

That opening montage was beautiful: shots of Cabreni Green and the World Trade Center. I also liked your juxtaposition of the father and son shooting hoops. Denzel's afro was great. Was it real? It looked really good.

I know the white man had to betray the black man at the end; I'm cool with that. You wouldn't be Spike if the movie had a happy ending. But I'm confused. Does Denzel's heaving the ball over the wall indicate that he's quitting, much as his son did in the flashback scene? And I'm also confused about the seeming fact that the (presumed) drug dealer is the only one who is "honest" with Jesus about the travails of being a high school basketball star.

Otherwise, great plot development. Some cute comedic scenes interspersed to break up the heaviness. I know basketball is a beautiful game, and you're angry about all the corruption and exploitation surrounding the game from such an early stage. I guess that's why you were in the movie "Hoop Dreams" as well.

It's all good. It's a great film. Copeland and Public Enemy? Wow. Nice.

Oh, one request: Could you please make sure Mr Rose stays on the straight and narrow for the Chicago Bulls?

Thanks,.

Adam.