Starring Denzel Washington, Ray Allen Directed by Spike Lee Rated R, with profanity, nudity and sex Running time 131 minutes Jack gives this film a rating of 8 out of 10

By Jack Garner
Staff film critic

(May 10, 1997) -- Jesus Shuttlesworth would seem to be on top of the world. He's the top-rated high school basketball player in the nation, a sure-fire college recruit and a lock for an eventual NBA career.

As the street saying goes, "He got game."

That's also what Spike Lee calls his new film, a hard-edged look at big-time basketball and the stressful world of college recruiting. Real-life Milwaukee Bucks star Ray Allen makes an impressive acting debut as Jesus; Denzel Washington stars as his father, Jake.

Jesus wants to be upright in his choice of a college; after all, the NCAA has strict rules about what a recruit can and cannot accept. But he's surrounded by people who view him as a meal ticket.

His father, Jake, is doing time in state prison for the murder of Jesus' mother -- though her death was largely accidental.

The film opens with Jake being offered a deal: The governor will shorten his sentence if he can convince his superstar son to attend Big State, the governor's alma mater. Jake is temporarily released to persuade Jesus to sign the Big State letter of intent.

But Jesus has never forgiven his father; he doesn't even want to see Jake, let alone fulfill his wishes.

Meanwhile, other pressures mount. An uncle wants Jesus to buy him a new car. His girlfriend is scheming to hook him up -- illegally -- with an agent. Even his high school coach becomes a conduit for under-the-table cash payments.

The only thing that remains pure in Jesus' life is the game. Nothing thrills him more than executing a smooth spin move or finishing off a fast break.

As written and directed by Lee, He Got Game is both a sports movie and a father-and-son saga.

Like Hoop Dreams, its famous nonfiction predecessor, He Got Game lyrically mythologizes the game while simultaneously exposing the flawed ways college athletes are recruited and treated.

Nor did Lee find easy answers in the turbulent relationship between Jake and Jesus.

Jake deserves credit for giving his son his first lessons on the blacktop courts of Coney Island; but Jesus also has shouldered the burden of his father's failed dreams.

In a gritty role, Denzel Washington explores Jake's shadowy behavior and complex emotions.

And Ray Allen not only makes the basketball playing realistic, but he can act. He's superb.

Greece Athena graduate John Wallace, now a Toronto Raptor, is believable and entertaining in a small role as one of Allen's high school teammates.

Be warned: He Got Game is not an uplifting, nostalgic Hoosiers. Lee's approach is tough, aggressive and occasionally raunchy. (Sex is a major recruitment tool.)

Lee balances his cynicism with a poetic love of basketball -- just as the film's soundtrack music alternates between the pastoral Americana of Aaron Copland and the street raps of Public Enemy.

He Got Game offers a daring, double-edged approach to modern basketball -- and Lee doesn't always keep his balance. He's diverted, for example, by an extraneous subplot in which the elder Shuttlesworth tries to redeem a neighborhood prostitute.

Nonetheless, He Got Game is an eye-opening look at a high-pressure world. Lee has successfully confronted the demons of his beloved basketball, even while celebrating its joys.