A few friends and I recently discussed movies we thought warranted a second watch. We debated whether a film aged like a fine wine or sour milk in the discussion. It meant if we thought a movie held up or was even deemed better years after its original release or if we didn’t believe it was all that good now when 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 back in 1991, but one I don’t doubt 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 when I watched in the theater, but one that I didn’t chuckle at once during my 2012 viewing. My example of a movie that aged like a fine wine was Apocolypse Now, a movie I didn’t necessarily love when I first saw it, but one I grew to appreciate as it and I aged. Spike Lee’s (Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing) He Got Game is a fine wine. I remember thinking it was “pretty decent” in 1998. It holds the test of time and is more applicable today, as we have seen in recent years, 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 real schools are not identified by name, 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 where he will be attending college in the fall or if he will be going pro. He’ll make one more visit to Tech University where Chick Deagan (NBA’s Rick Fox), an upperclassman on the will try to make one last push to recruit him through all of the various ways you would expect to recruit an 18-year-old who is 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 be the numerous universities who 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 receives many unsolicited suggestions. Even sports agents offered him cash to sign with them immediately, forcing him to forgo his college career and jump into the NBA. One more interested party in his recruitment is the governor of the state of New York, whose alma mater is in 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 is the backdrop of a few scenes in this film, and a 35-year-old Jake doesn’t go easy at all on his son, even pushing him to the ground when he is in mid-air going 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, even asking 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 well in the direction of this film (his finest, in my opinion) is his pacing. He does not rush a single thing. And, though a runtime of over two hours, this movie does not feel low, not even for a second. Lee’s direction is what gets this film across. His insight into the seedy interworkings of high-level basketball recruiting was far ahead of its time. The World Wide Web was barely on the radar when this movie was filmed. What we know now about sports (being more about big business versus athletic competition and city, college, state, and country rivalries) was very different from what many of us perceived in 1998. I can only speak for myself as a 22-year-old when I saw this movie in the theater, but I think 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 was staying in the room next to him in a nearby dosshouse. What Lee attempted to do with Jake and Dakota’s dynamics was to show how six years had changed the man. He wanted to show the audience 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 is now searching to make amends uniquely while still staying human. It didn’t detract from the film, but it might feel out of place if you are watching it in a cursory type of way. However, if you devote your attention to the story as much as Lee did in telling it, you’ll be rewarded by the touch and care he gives each of his characters.

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, as did Edward Norton 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 Washington had been put up for Best Supporting Actor instead. Either way, he deserved what, at the time, would have been his fourth Academy Award nomination for acting.

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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