This should have been great. This should have been a modern classic. But a screenplay that feels like a script rather than real dialogue and some very poor editing mars the film from flowing in a way that keeps the audience from feeling fully invested. There are some truly great, complex characters reading the story of a young basketball player (Ray Allen) who becomes part of a scheme of governor Ned Beatty to get him into his alma mater as long as prison inmate Denzel Washington, Allen's father, can convince him to go there. But Allen, now raising his younger sister with the help of his aunt and uncle who live in the same building, completely resents his father and wants nothing to do with him. However, as is usually the case in situations like this, his hatred is on the surface, and he's not adverse to listening to what his father has to say as long as he can call the shots as to where and when, and ultimately being the one to make the decisions on his terms.
Just wondering why writer and director Spike Lee makes so many old movie references in the script, some of them seeming forced in conversations where things like this would not occur. This could have been one of the great scripts about family relationships and the dreams that never leave, but there are elements that just don't work, keeping the film from peeing a complete success. Performances of course are excellent, and Allen, a professional ball player, is really likeable on screen. Washington of course is completely commanding, having never delivered a bad performance. Michelle Shay and Bill Nunn deserve mention as Allen's aunt and uncle, with Zelda Harris a nice surprise as Allen's younger sister, but loaded with vulnerability.
The weakness of the script is further accentuated by the structural editing, going from a segment with a certain mood to another scene with a completely different mood, and that breaks up the flow, going from the showing of love to sudden crudeness that cheapens what could have otherwise been a classy production. It's not just that it's there. It's there far too much. There are a few transitional moments that are very good too, especially little montages dealing with recruiters are the various colleges who want to get their hands on Allen, these scenes at times seeming like fantasies inside the young Allen's mind. So much greatness in a finished product that seems somewhat incomplete and not totally done, like a cake where the mix on the inside hasn't hardened.
Just wondering why writer and director Spike Lee makes so many old movie references in the script, some of them seeming forced in conversations where things like this would not occur. This could have been one of the great scripts about family relationships and the dreams that never leave, but there are elements that just don't work, keeping the film from peeing a complete success. Performances of course are excellent, and Allen, a professional ball player, is really likeable on screen. Washington of course is completely commanding, having never delivered a bad performance. Michelle Shay and Bill Nunn deserve mention as Allen's aunt and uncle, with Zelda Harris a nice surprise as Allen's younger sister, but loaded with vulnerability.
The weakness of the script is further accentuated by the structural editing, going from a segment with a certain mood to another scene with a completely different mood, and that breaks up the flow, going from the showing of love to sudden crudeness that cheapens what could have otherwise been a classy production. It's not just that it's there. It's there far too much. There are a few transitional moments that are very good too, especially little montages dealing with recruiters are the various colleges who want to get their hands on Allen, these scenes at times seeming like fantasies inside the young Allen's mind. So much greatness in a finished product that seems somewhat incomplete and not totally done, like a cake where the mix on the inside hasn't hardened.