Above the Rim (1994)

Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.

Director:

Jeff Pollack

Writers:

Jeff Pollack (story), Benny Medina (story),

Stars:

Duane Martin, Leon, Tupac Shakur

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Duane Martin	...	Kyle Lee Watson
Leon	...	Shep
Tupac Shakur	...	Birdie
David Bailey	...	Rollins
Tonya Pinkins	...	Mailika
Marlon Wayans	...	Bugaloo
Bernie Mac	...	Flip
Byron Minns	...	Monroe
Wood Harris	...	Motaw (as Sherwin David Harris)
Shawn Michael Howard	...	Bobby
Henry Simmons	...	Starnes
Iris Little Thomas	...	Waitress
Michael Rispoli	...	Richie
Eric Nies	...	Montrose
Bill Rafferty	...	Himself (as Bill Raftery)

Storyline

Story of Kyle-Lee Watson, a promising high school basketball star, and his relationships with Birdie, a powerful drug dealer, and Birdie's brother, Thomas 'Shep' Sheppard, himself once a promising high school star at Kyle's school, now employed as a security guard.

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Plot Keywords:

basketball | high school | security guard | drugs | drug dealer | 

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Taglines:

Some games you play. Some games play you.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong language, and for violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 March 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Harlemi ziccer

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$16,036,534 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the start when Shep awakes from the nightmare, you hear the intro to Tupac Shakur's "Pain" - "I Couldn't help but notice your pain" - "My pain?" - "It runs deep, share it with me!". This voice-over is from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

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Goofs

When Kyle is cheering in slow motion at the end of the movie, while "regulators" was playing, you clearing see Kyle accidentally hit heads with another one of the players

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Quotes

Shep: Crazy hard, scar your motherfuckin ass, bunks

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Connections

Spoofed in Coop Dreams (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Pour Out a Little Liquor"
Performed by Thug Life featuring Tupac Shakur (as 2Pac)
Written by Tupac Shakur (as T. Shakur)
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Contains a sample from "Cry Together"
Composed by Kenny Gamble (as K. Gamble) & Leon Huff (as L. Huff)
Performed by The O'Jays

User Reviews

Great Visuals - {Mad Sound Track}

The film, Above The Rim is no Star Wars, It's just a darker version of "White Men Can't Jump" with more creativity on the well developed basketball dribbling and dunks visuals. It's a must see for any sport/rap fan with the best soundtrack - thanks to Tupac Actor/Rapper dropping monster rhymes. The plot is a little light, but can't we all understand that we are not watching this movie for the plot but for the action. The basketball and music culture of America is superbly linked into the grim, street culture of the ghetto. The subtle use of basketball as a view into the street culture of America, is unique and original to this movie. This movies is a must for all DVD collections and deserves a 10. Thank You.