Heaven Is a Playground (1991)

A coach and a lawyer team up to provide incentives for an urban high school basketball team to stay out of trouble.

Director:

Randall Fried

Writers:

Randall Fried (screenplay), Rick Telander (book)

Stars:

La Taunya Bounds, Terry Bradley, Cylk Cozart

Cast

Credited cast:
La Taunya Bounds	...	Adoring Girl
Terry Bradley	...	Herc
Cylk Cozart	...	Andre
Stavon Lovell Davis	...	Gus
Jim Dougherty	...	Loading Dock Worker
Don James	...	Cecil
Razz Jenkins	...	Doctor
Richard Jordan	...	David Racine
Janet Julian	...	Dalton Ellis
Bo Kimble	...	Matthew Lockhart
Victor Love	...	Truth Harrison
Nigel Miguel	...	Casey Caldwell
Jason Negron	...	Stand-in
Hakeem Olajuwon	...	Luther Hakim
Mike Skewes	...	Sgt. O'Brien

Storyline

A coach and a lawyer team up to provide incentives for an urban high school basketball team to stay out of trouble.

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Plot Keywords:

lawyer | basketball movie | african american | independent film

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 October 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mennyei játszótér

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aurora Film Corporation, Heaven Corp.

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

'Michael Jordan' was originally supposed to play the role that Bo Kimble went on to take. In the fall of 1998, the filmmakers went to courts with a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Jordan seeking at least $16 million in damages, citing the lack of Jordan as the cause of the film's box-office flop and the derailment of director Randall Fried, who in the words of their attorney, "should have been and would have been the next Steven Spielberg" if the film had been successful. Jordan countersued. The jury founded Jordan not liable and awarded him $50,000 in favor of his countersuit.

User Reviews

This is a corny b-ball movie w/ bad acting and B-movie production value.

I didn't like this movie at all. The basketball action is weak, it is all done is slo-mo, and makes it really hard to watch. D.B Sweeny is a good actor, but his dialogue is so corny, it makes him unbearable. The "villain" in this movie is contrived, and the main character Truth, is a complete idiot. You don't feel sorry for him at all when he ruins his life. Features cameo by Hakeem Olajuwon, and Michael Jordan was supposed to be in it but backed out. Don't waste your time on this movie, if you want a good basketball movie see Above the Rim, Hoop Dreams, Hoosiers, or my personal favorite Blue Chips.