White Men Can't Jump

Billy Hoyle plays street basketball in Los Angeles and makes money from nobody taking a white man seriously on a court. Sidney Deane works out what he is doing, becomes his partner, and the two start running the courts together. Ron Shelton wrote and directed, and the writing is the best thing in it. The trash talk carries a genuine rhythm and the conversations stay with you longer than the games. Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson carry it. Both went through an intensive basketball camp run by Hall of Famer Bob Lanier, who said Harrelson was the better player of the two. Rosie Perez's casting is its own story: she impressed Shelton by turning down an audition because she was having a bad hair day. Her character's Jeopardy ambition carries her whole arc. On a 31 million dollar budget it grossed 90.8 million worldwide. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 75 percent, and Roger Ebert gave it three and a half stars while noting it is not simply a basketball movie. Stanley Kubrick counted it among his favourites. A 2023 remake with Jack Harlow and Sinqua Walls found no audience. Who it is for: fans of sports comedy and two-hander films built on dialogue. Who it is not for: anyone who will notice how the female lead is used in the second half. Gloria's story gets a hurried resolution.