White Men Can't Jump (1992)

Black and white basketball hustlers join forces to double their chances of winning money on the street courts and in a basketball tournament.

Director:

Ron Shelton

Writer:

Ron Shelton

Stars:

Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Rosie Perez

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Wesley Snipes	...	Sidney Deane
Woody Harrelson	...	Billy Hoyle
Rosie Perez	...	Gloria Clemente
Tyra Ferrell	...	Rhonda Deane
Cylk Cozart	...	Robert
Kadeem Hardison	...	Junior
Ernest Harden Jr.	...	George
John Marshall Jones	...	Walter
Marques Johnson	...	Raymond
David Roberson	...	T.J.
Kevin Benton	...	Zeke
Nigel Miguel	...	Dwight 'The Flight' McGhee
Duane Martin	...	Willie Lewis
Bill Henderson	...	The Venice Beach Boys
Sonny Craver	...	The Venice Beach Boys

Storyline

Billy and Sydney think they're the best basketball hustlers in town, so when they join forces, nothing can stop them, except each other. To add to their problems, Billy owes money and is being chased by a pair of gangster types.

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Plot Keywords:

basketball | racism | cult film | gender in title | tournament | 

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Taglines:

It ain't easy being this good.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

To introduce a new basketball shoe, Nike teamed up with the filmmakers to assemble the package of shoes inspired by characters Billy Hoyle and Sidney Deane.

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Goofs

Billy tells Gloria that he spent $5.16 of the $62. Gloria then says that they have $58.84 left. They really only have $56.84 left.

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Quotes

Billy Hoyle: [while lying in bed] When I say I wanna make love, it means, "Let's screw." That's the kind of thing I thought you would say.
Gloria Clemente: I don't like the word "screw," OK? I prefer "make love" or "fuck." Screwing is for carpenters.
Billy Hoyle: [pours a glass of water in her face] Oh, you're gonna get it!
Gloria Clemente: Oh, honey!
Billy Hoyle: Oh...
Gloria Clemente: We're you going?
Billy Hoyle: [irritated, while getting dressed] Anywhere to get the hell away from you. Psycho, chiquita nut case!
Gloria Clemente: Oh, come back, I want to make love. Honey, come back, I want to screw!

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, we can hear the classical 20th Century Fox Fanfare in a hip hop style.

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Alternate Versions

Some U.S. video versions are three minutes longer.

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Connections

Referenced in Drop Zone (1994)

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Soundtracks

If I Lose
Written by Ron Shelton and Bennie Wallace
Performed by Aretha Franklin
Courtesy of Arista Records

User Reviews

courtship

A gritty comedy set in some tough LA neighborhoods about two basketball hustlers, one white (Woody Harrelson), the other black (Wesley Snipes). After hustling each other, they finally team up to play in a tournament, where with a combination of skill and trash talk they defeat the two guys who normally would have left them in the dust. The trash talk gets silly at times, while the subplot of underworld characters who are chasing Harrelson for an unpaid debt seems to be there only to explain logically why he hustles in the first place, as if he would do something else with his life. In any event, the games go from Venice Beach to Watts, and the settings are as good as the stars. Especially so are the cheap motels where Harrelson and girlfriend Rosie Perez have to live, and the inner city apartment where Snipes and his wife Tyra Ferrel call home, all of which adds up to a realistic slice of life at the time, which now seems to look quite a bit different. Intelligently written and well photographed, it has laid in the back of the shelves at countless video stores waiting to be rediscovered.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 March 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

White Men Can't Jump

Filming Locations:

Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,711,124, 29 March 1992

Gross USA:

$76,253,806

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$90,753,806

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 118 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1