Good Game

I just watched He Got Game for the first time.  I remember hearing so many good things about the movie back when I was in high school, but I never got the chance to see it.  I am very glad I did because this is a very powerful film, and I very proudly give it my "stamp of approval".

He Got Game is a story about Jake Shuttlesworth, a convicted felon, who must try to get his son Jesus to attend Big State to play college basketball.  The reason for this particular school is because it is the Governor's alma mater, and he thinks very highly of Jesus.  If Jake is able to do this, his prison sentence will be reduced.

Denzel Washington masterfully commands the screen as Jake Shuttlesworth.  Jake is a man who not only sees this opportunity as a chance to get out of prison early, but also as a chance to seek redemption and forgiveness from his family, particularly from his son.  I have been a big fan of Denzel Washington for many years.  He always brings a certain quality, a certain essence, to his roles that only he could bring.  At the same time, he disappears into every role.  He is perfection at playing a man who knows he has done wrong, and wants to get his life back on the right track.

This leads me to a topic that, quite honestly, I was not going to talk about unless the opportunity presented itself.  It has with this movie.  In my opinion, athletes are not actors.  Athletes belong on whatever court or field they play on.  Unless a movie is being made where the athlete actually serves the story (as in Space Jam where the story actually revolved around Michael Jordan), or on the rare occasion where an athlete actually retires from their sport and becomes an actor full-time, and fully dedicates themselves to the craft of acting (as is the case with Dwayne Johnson, who has proved to be quite a serviceable actor), it is my opinion that athletes do not make good actors.  Does Ray Allen do a good job at playing Jesus Shuttlesworth?  Actually, yes.  Could they have gotten an actual actor who knew how to play basketball to play the role?  Probably.  Would the movie have been any better if they had done so?  Maybe.  It is just something that I feel can sometimes take you out of the movie-going experience.

Spike Lee expertly crafts this film.  This was the first time I have watched one of his films.  It was clear right from the beginning that he has his own voice, and a certain style that he brings to his movies.  The way the camera is positioned, the way inserts are used, even the few flashbacks that show the rough upbringing that Jesus Shuttlesworth had....all of it has a reason that they are used in the way that they are.  That is what makes this movie, and Spike Lee, special.

He Got Game is one of those films that I had heard so many good things about that I was afraid it was being over-hyped.  I am glad it was not.  This is a great redemption story, with a powerful performance by its lead actor.