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Product Description
Amazon.ca
Writer-director Ron Shelton's 1992 follow-up to the baseball comedy-drama Bull Durham involves a different sport: basketball, as played on the neighborhood hustler circuit. Woody Harrelson is Billy Hoyle, a good shooter using his white complexion to fool black players into thinking he can be stomped in easy bets. Billy's banter-filled matchup against Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes) on a public court leads to a partnership in which Sidney becomes Billy's manager, taking the white outsider on a tour of the tougher sections of Los Angeles, where he plays homeboys for a few bucks. Inevitably, the two come apart over their innate competitiveness, a situation that has to be reevaluated after Billy gets into trouble with some underworld creditors. Meanwhile, Billy's girlfriend (Rosie Perez) sits at home preparing herself for a maybe-someday date appearance on Jeopardy. As with all of Shelton's sports-related movies (Tin Cup, his script for The Best of Times), White Men Can't Jump is less about the fine points of the game than it is the rules by which players survive it. The script is literate and crackling with wit and satire (a scene in which a politician sponsors a black-white "solidarity" game is hilarious). The actors are entirely in sync, and the scenes under and around the hoops are a thrill to watch. --Tom Keogh
Product Description
Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson) and Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes) are an unlikely pair of basketball hustlers. They team up to con their way across the courts of Los Angeles, playing a game that's fast dangerous - and funny. Directed and written by Ron Shelton ("Bull Durham"), and co-starring the sizzling Rosie Perez, "White Men Can't Jump" is a slam dunk, high-flying comedy hit!
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By momazon
Format:DVD
Weesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson and Rosie Perez all star in this 1992 flick about Billy, a white man who is a basketball hustler, and Sidney, who is just as much a hustler. The two recognize a kindred spirit in the other and set off to play basketball for money, pretending that, as a white man, Billy is easy to beat, when in reality he is about the best there is.
Billy's girlfriend is Gloria, a Jeopardy! junkie aiming to get on the show and win big. (Do you know how many foods begin with the letter Q? Six!)
Billy's love of hustling clashes with his love for Gloria and loyalty to his new friend Sidney. Is there any way he can truly win without losing something he holds dear? Watch this and see.
Format:DVD
Some have trouble with the title of this film, "White Men Can't Jump", and suggest that if there cannot be a film that substitutes the word Black for White and another word for jump, there is a race issue at hand. Racism has nothing to do with this film, and while the title may set off some overly sensitive politically correct censors, not to worry, the film was not made for them. The closest this film comes to presumptions based on color is that a white ball player, Woody Harrelson, probably cannot play with the locales in the rougher parts of LA. Since the character rapidly proves the presumption wrong the idea that stereotypes should be given credence are instantly dispatched.
This is a buddy film that features some amazing street style basketball including a two on two tournament, and playing as good as anything you will see on a college court or many pro courts. The credits mentioned some, "stunt players", and I have no way of knowing how much of the playing was done by the stars of the film. But whoever was making the plays was brilliant. Some of the footage was clearly Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, and both have athletic talents. Rosie Perez also deserves mention as the encyclopedic Jeopardy fiend that eventually gets her shot at the money as well.
Some of the great moments in the film are either stand alone musical pieces or film that is greatly enhanced by the soundtrack. The music used varies widely, from 3 part acappella harmony, to rap, funk, R&B, country, the one and only guitar of Jimi Hendrix, and the soul of James Brown. This is a fun film when you have a few hours and want to relax, and are not in the mood to be hammered emotionally, lectured at or taxed to ponder great moral issues. Pure fun.
Format:DVD
This is one of the best films I have ever seen. I favor its technical side and the very idea itself as well. It depicts a reality that is fictious but it can easily be adopted to the real world. What is the most optimistic about this movie is the fact that a pair of main characters resemble ordinary human beings, like everybody. They need to fight their way thru life and, as it always happens in the real world, they find themselves in better or worse circumstances. The most encouraging thing is their special kind of friendship and their easiness to face whatever life brings. Due to that fact they endear themselves to the audience which turns a blind eye on their hustling activity. Still, they have to have some sort of income and, as long as it does not hurt anybody physically, the audience sides with them. I would very much like to have this movie in my home library but unfortunately there is no version available that is distributed in my region on DVD; and I feel extremely sorry about that; I think I would enumerate this as a main drawback of this movie...
Drowsy Existence
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4.1 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Movie
This movie portrays loyalty, betrayal and friendship between two white and black men basketball hustlers. This movie has a lot of swearing and sex. Read more
Published on May 28 2002 by K. Kainula
1.0 out of 5 stars
Racist!
That's would be said if the title were Black Men Can't (fill in whatever you wish), regardless of the meaning of the actual theme of the movie. Then why isn't it the case here? Read more
Published on Feb 20 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic comedy - the sleeper hit of 1992
If you like basketball, than you'll love this movie. More than a zany comedy as the ads would have you believe but witty and original with true chemistry between its 2 stars,... Read more
Published on Jan 2 2002 by Minnie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sports + comedy doesn't get any better!
This is definately one of the best sports/comedy movies of all time. The basketball scenes are as well done as any you'll see in any movie, and the comedic personalities of Billy... Read more
Published on Dec 5 2001
3.0 out of 5 stars
When you say "jump" we ask "How HIgh?"
Ron Shelton loves to make sports films. He is given us the wonderful BULL DURHAM, the pretty good TIN CUP and the horrendous PLAY IT TO THE BONE. Read more
Published on Sep 30 2001 by GLENN WHELAN
1.0 out of 5 stars
White Men Can't Jump
I would rate it if I had received it. it is now the 21/9/01 and it was shipped on 21/8/01 still not here. Read more
Published on Sep 21 2001 by RUAIRI O'NEILL
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Movie And Descent DVD Features
Let's Start With The Movie Itself, The Whole Idea For The Movie To Me Seems Kinda Dull And Boring But Surprisingly This Movie Is Anything But That. Read more
Published on Jan 8 2001 by Eddie Creech
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not spectacular, but it's an alright movie
"White Men Can't Jump" is a pretty good movie. Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson both have their lives fall apart in some way after they lose all their money, and all... Read more
Published on Dec 4 2000 by jasenao
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Memorable
This flick is loaded with greatness. Wesley Snipes is just so cool in his role. I just love watching his eyes move back and forth when he is trying to show up Woody Harrelson. Read more
Published on Sep 5 2000 by G. J Wiener
3.0 out of 5 stars
Classic comedy that rocketed 2 stars to fame
If you like basketball at all, you're going to love this movie. If you like to make fun of your friends, you're going to love this movie. Read more
Published on Jun 13 2000 by David P. Chesher
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