A few friends and I recently discussed movies we thought warranted a second watch. We debated whether a film aged like fine wine or sour milk. It meant whether we thought a movie held up, or was even better, years after its original release, or whether we didn’t think it was all that good now, even though we once held it in high esteem. One of my friends said Terminator 2 aged like sour milk. Though I haven’t seen it a second time, this movie was so far ahead of its time in terms of technology in 1991, but I don’t doubt it might be unwatchable 30 years later. The sour milk example I gave was The Great Outdoors, a movie that a 12-year-old me thought was hilarious in the theater, but that I didn’t chuckle at once during my 2012 viewing. An example of a movie that aged like a fine wine was Apocalypse Now, a movie I didn’t necessarily love when I first saw it, but one I grew to appreciate as I aged. Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, and He Got Game are fine wines. I remember thinking it was “pretty decent” in 1998. It has stood the test of time and, as we have seen in recent years, applies more to the sleaziness of college basketball recruiting.

Denzel Washington (Fences, Flight) stars as Jake Shuttlesworth, a convicted felon of six years after a manslaughter charge put him in prison. His son, Jesus (NBA’s Ray Allen), is the country’s number-one high school basketball recruit. But he knows that only a few players in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, have made it out of the area to have successful playing careers. But he’s determined to do just that. Though the real schools aren’t named, Lee could get coaches from North Carolina, Kansas, Georgetown, Arizona, Temple, and more to make cameo appearances. Even Michael Jordan agreed to make a cameo to say something positive about Jesus.

We meet Jesus in the middle of his school week. It’s springtime in New York, and his senior year basketball season is over. He has until Monday morning to decide whether he’ll attend college in the fall or go pro. He’ll make one more visit to Tech University, where Chick Deagan (NBA’s Rick Fox), an upperclassman, will try one last push to recruit him in all the ways you would expect to recruit an 18-year-old on the verge of stardom. This includes a pep talk from the coach, a promo in the university’s empty basketball arena of Jesus’s high school highlights t shown on the jumbotron, a stroll through campus, a quick meal outside one of the dining halls, a glimpse of the party life, and girls, girls, girls galore. Tech University goes all out just hours before his decision.

It isn’t just Tech University trying to get in his head, though. Whether it’s the numerous universities that have offered him scholarships, his high school coach with a stake in where he is going, or his girlfriend Lala (Rosario Dawson – Unstoppable, Seven Pounds), he gets plenty of unsolicited advice. Even sports agents offer him cash to sign immediately, forcing him to forgo his college career and jump into the NBA. Another interested party in his recruitment is the governor of New York, whose alma mater is on Jesus’s final list of schools he is considering. Through the prison’s warden, the governor makes him an offer. He’ll release him for a week, and if he can talk his son into signing a letter of intent to attend Big State University, the governor will reduce Jake’s sentence.

A checkered past has divided Jake and his son. Through flashbacks, we see how hard Jake pushed Jesus when he was eleven. They play one-on-one basketball at a local park that serves as the backdrop for a few scenes in this film, and 35-year-old Jake doesn’t go easy on his son, even pushing him to the ground mid-air as he goes for a layup. It is not a love-hate relationship but one that is tense and sometimes even terse. It’s Jake’s way or the highway. His intentions are in the right place, but deep down inside, even he knows when he is wrong. He cannot just fully control his emotions. It’s his tragic flaw.

When his father shows up unexpectedly, Jesus is thrown for a loop and asks his much younger sister, Mary, in front of Jake, “What did I say about letting strangers in our home?” Jake doesn’t make his intentions known right away. He says he was released but doesn’t say why. It makes no sense to Jesus or anyone who knows Jake’s story. Jake repeatedly says he needs to talk to Jesus, but he is never pushy, knowing that if he strikes too hard and fast, it will push his son away even further.

What Lee does best in this film (in my opinion) is his pacing. He does not rush a single thing. And though it runs over two hours, this movie never feels slow, not even for a second. Lee’s direction is what carries this film. His insight into the seedy inner workings of high-level basketball recruiting was far ahead of its time. The World Wide Web was barely on the radar when they filmed this movie. What we know now about sports (more about big business than athletic competition and city, college, state, and country rivalries) is very different from what many of us perceived in 1998. I can only speak for myself as a 22-year-old who saw this movie in the theater, but I thought it was “pretty decent” at the time because I didn’t think it was overly realistic. It pushed the envelope of what life was like for a highly recruited senior a little too far. I was wrong about that.

Washington was superb in his role. His prowess was ever-present, lifting a gifted basketball player but non-actor in Allen to look like someone who has been acting his entire life. Interestingly, this movie is far less about basketball and more about relationships. While some pick-up games were played, this role was designed to be played more by an actor than an athlete. Lee saw something in Allen and struck gold with his inexperience and rawness, which translated into pure authenticity.

A side story in Jake’s character involved a prostitute named Dakota (Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil, The Fifth Element), who stayed in the room next to him in a nearby doss house. Lee used Jake and Dakota’s dynamic to show how six years had changed him. He wanted the audience to see that prison reform can be successful. Lee shows us that Jake is less violent than when Jesus was younger. He has learned and repented, and now he is searching to make amends in his own way while still staying human. It doesn’t detract from the film, but it might feel out of place if you are watching it casually. However, if you devote as much attention to the story as Lee did in telling it, you’ll be rewarded by the touch and care he gives each character.

Washington deserved an Outstanding Actor Oscar nomination for his role. 1998 was a soft year (Roberto Benigni won for Life is Beautiful). Tom Hanks deserved his nomination for Saving Private Ryan, and Edward Norton deserved his for American History X. The other two were Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters) and Nick Nolte (Affliction). Meh. Allen could have been considered the lead, and Washington could have played a supporting role. As a result, he might have earned a better chance of securing a nomination. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if they’d put Washington up for Best Supporting Actor instead. Either way, he deserved what, at the time, would have been his fourth acting nomination.

He Got Game is a terrific film, highlighted by Lee’s flawless direction, Washington’s mastery of yet another deeply enriched character, and the surprise performance of the year in Allen’s acting debut.

Plot 9/10
Character Development 9.5/10
Character Chemistry 9/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 9.5/10
Directing 10/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 9/10
Universal Relevance 10/10
94.5%

A

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