SPIKE LEE: He Got Game (1998)

“Everyone else ain’t your father.”

CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of exploitation, racism, underage sex, prison, sex work, abuse, murder.

It was only a matter of time before Spike Lee decided to make his own ode to basketball. Unfortunately, his script here is just not up to par, which is a shame, because underneath the flash and messy storytelling, there’s a really interesting story about fathers and sons. Denzel is bringing his best, as usual, and the supporting cast is doing their absolute best. Even Ray Allen, who’s definitely not an actor, still has flashes of brilliance as he relaxes into the role. And Spike’s directing has so much thought and care, particularly in his use of score. But none of that matters when the movie just doesn’t have a whole lot to say. Check the ball and post up as we discuss 1998’s He Got Game this week on Macintosh & Maud Haven’t Seen What?!

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Intro music taken from the Second Movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Hong Kong (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 HK) license. To hear the full performance or get more information, visit the song page at the Internet Archive.

Excerpt taken from “He Got Game” from the soundtrack to the movie of the same name, written by LuQuantum Leap featuring Stephen Stills, and performed by Public Enemy along with the Voices of Shabach Community Choir of Long Island. Copyright 1998 Def Jam Records, Inc., a PolyGram Company.