He Got Game

For the Public Enemy album, see He Got Game (soundtrack).

He Got Game
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Spike Lee
Written by	Spike Lee
Produced by	Jon Kilik Spike Lee
Starring	Denzel Washington Ray Allen Milla Jovovich
Cinematography	Malik Hassan Sayeed
Edited by	Barry Alexander Brown
Production companies	Touchstone Pictures 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release date	May 1, 1998 (1998-05-01)
Running time	136 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25 million
Box office	$21,567,853

He Got Game is a 1998 American sports film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington as Jake Shuttlesworth, a prison inmate convicted for killing his wife. He is also the father of the top-ranked basketball prospect in the country, Jesus Shuttlesworth, played by NBA star Ray Allen. Jake is released on parole for a week by the state's governor to persuade his son to play for the governor's alma mater, in exchange for a much reduced prison sentence. This is the third of four film collaborations with Washington and Lee.

Filming took place between July and September 1997. Locations included Coney Island, Brooklyn, Cabrini–Green housing projects in Chicago, Illinois, Elon University, North Carolina, and Los Angeles, California.

Plot

Jesus Shuttlesworth (Ray Allen), a top-ranked athlete and student at Lincoln High School in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, is being pursued by the top college basketball programs in the nation. His father, Jake (Denzel Washington), is a convicted felon serving time at Attica Correctional Facility for accidentally killing his wife (Jesus' mother) by pushing her while arguing with Jesus at the age of 12. The father is temporarily released by the governor, an influential alum of "Big State," one of the colleges Jesus is considering, so that he might persuade his son to sign with the governor's college; if successful he'll get an early release from prison.

While seemingly a sound plan, it turns haywire due to the strained relationship between Jesus and his father. Upon his first moments outside of prison, Jake contacts his daughter Mary Shuttlesworth (Zelda Harris), who is happy to see him. Mary invites her father to the apartment where she and Jesus now live, having moved out of their Uncle Bubba's place. When Jesus returns home from school, he is unhappy to see his father. Refusing to look him in the eye, he tells his sister to get rid of the "stranger" in their living room. Jesus later agrees to meet with his father at an alternative location away from Mary. Throughout the movie, Jake tries to persuade Jesus to attend "Big State" with seemingly no success. Eventually he divulges the deal set up by the governor, but Jesus appears unsympathetic to his father's situation.

Intertwined with the story of the Shuttlesworth family is the sub-plot of Dakota Barns (Milla Jovovich), a prostitute who stays in the room next to Jake in the run-down hotel which the warden has booked for him. Dakota is being abused by her current boss/lover (Sweetness) and Jake overhears their violence through the thin walls. Throughout the movie Jake is seen helping clean her wounds, and he (Jake) gave her some of his money to be used for his expenses during this week out of prison. Dakota is seen in one of the final scenes of the movie taking a Greyhound bus away from New York City.

Jesus is tempted with offers of cash and women on recruiting visits to big time basketball programs. He also considers declaring the NBA in order to play professionally sooner and immediately lift himself and his sister out of poverty. Ultimately, Jesus decides to sign to play for "Big State" but not until after his father's deadline. Jake gets no relief on his sentence.

Cast

• Denzel Washington as Jake Shuttlesworth
• Ray Allen as Jesus Shuttlesworth
• Milla Jovovich as Dakota Barns
• John Turturro as Coach Billy Sunday
• Rosario Dawson as Lala Bonilla
• Jim Brown as Spivey
• Joseph Lyle Taylor as Crudup
• Hill Harper as Coleman "Booger" Sykes
• Zelda Harris as Mary Shuttlesworth
• Ned Beatty as Warden Wyatt
• Bill Nunn as Uncle Bubba
• Thomas Jefferson Byrd as Sweetness
• Roger Guenveur Smith as Big Time Willie
• Lonette McKee as Martha Shuttlesworth
• Travis Best as Sip
• Walter McCarty as Mance
• Kim Director as Lynn
• John Wallace as Lonnie
• Rick Fox as Chick Deagan
• Leonard Roberts as D'Andre Mackey
• Jennifer Esposito as Ms. Janus

Production

For the role of Jesus, Lee had drawn up a list of every NBA player who could pass for a high school senior. Kobe Bryant had off-season commitments. Lee found Tracy McGrady too reserved and was not impressed by Allen Iverson's performance. Management for Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury wanted a guarantee that one or the other would be offered the part. Travis Best, Walter McCarty, and Rick Fox also auditioned, and Lee cast them in supporting roles. Lee approached Allen during halftime of a Bucks-Knicks game, ultimately offering him the role of Jesus. Allen had never acted before, and he trained with an acting coach for eight weeks prior to filming.

NBA players Shaquille O'Neal, Reggie Miller, Bill Walton, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, and Charles Barkley, College coach Jim Boeheim, NBA coaches Rick Pitino and George Karl and broadcaster Dick Vitale made cameo appearances at one point early in the film. Former football legend Jim Brown also appears as one of Jake's parole officers, assigned to keep tabs on him while he's away from the prison.

Release

Box office

He Got Game was produced on an estimated $25 million budget. In the opening weekend of its release, it was shown on 1,319 screens, and took in $7,610,663 at the U.S. box offices debuting at #1. It eventually grossed a total of $21,554,585.00

Critical response

Response to the film was largely favorable, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes showing it receiving 80% favorable reviews, praising Lee's artfulness, commentary, and honest connection to human characters. Negative reviews focused their criticism on the film's length and Lee's overindulgence, with Time Out London writing, "Most scenes play too long, with a surplus of ideas, textures, tones and characters, and after 134 minutes it's clear Lee's problem with closure hasn't gone away." Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half-stars, and called it Lee's best film since Malcolm X. He was particularly encouraged by Lee's determination not to adhere to typical conventions.

Both Ray Allen and Washington drew praise for their performances, with Roger Ebert writing that Allen "is that rarity, an athlete who can act," and Slate magazine writing that Washington's performance was "gorgeously underplayed".

ESPN's review pointed out factual flaws in the story: "...coaches aren't allowed to discuss potential recruits until after the signing period. Come on, Spike. (And while we're at it, players aren't allowed to visit a college one week before the signing deadline; Jesus couldn't live alone with his sister without both of them being thrown in a foster home; and there's NO WAY IN HELL that Jesus wouldn't have just turned pro if he was that good and that broke.)"

Soundtrack

Further information: He Got Game (soundtrack)

The soundtrack for He Got Game was composed of numerous orchestral pieces by Aaron Copland with songs created by Public Enemy. It was released by Def Jam on April 21, 1998.

Awards and nominations

1999 Acapulco Black Film Festival

• Best Actor — Denzel Washington (nominated)
• Best Director — Spike Lee (nominated)
• Best Screenplay — Spike Lee (nominated)
• Best Film (nominated)
• Best Soundtrack (nominated)

1999 NAACP Image Awards

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture — Denzel Washington (nominated)
• Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress — Zelda Harris (nominated)
• Outstanding Motion Picture (nominated)

1999 MTV Movie Awards

• MTV Movie Award Best Breakthrough Male Performance — Ray Allen (nominated)

External links

• He Got Game at IMDb
• He Got Game at AllMovie
• He Got Game at Box Office Mojo
• He Got Game at Rotten Tomatoes