Old movie review: White Men Can't Jump

[GwinnettNole]

I don't think I've ever scene this movie discussed here--- what do you think: did it stand the test of time?

I'd say maybe. There are some good parts in the movie. The whole dialog at the beginning between the players is pretty good (astronaut talk) and then so is when Billy (Woody H.'s character) hustles Sidney (Wesley's) for the money. Woody's character seems like a real badass.

But it's downhill from there for Billy as he really is a big idiot. The most annoying thing in the movie was Rosie Perez's voice throughout the movie-- awful IMO.

One part that is still funny is when the one guy puts a mask on his face and tries to hold up the guy at the pawn store so he can get some more money for a game--- which he ends up getting hustled.

Overall it's still fairly entertaining but I'd give it a C in terms of standing the test of time.

 

[Seminiferous]

After considerable deep thought, research and introspection, I second the insightful "maybe" rating.

 

[Gonolz]

I don't recall seeing this in the cheesy movie thread, but WMCJ stands the test of time for me. I still stop and watch whenever I see it flipping through the channels. And yes, the scene where Raymond tries to put on a ski mask to rob the store for betting money and gets called out is hilarious, as is afterwards when Sidney is trying to confuse him about getting hustled and he says he's going to his car to get his other gun and shoot everybody. One of the most triumphant moments in sports movie history was when Billy Hoyle made the dunk to beat the King and Duck. I have been annoyed by Rosie Perez in other movies, but not in this one. She nailed it like a Quince on Jeopardy and Billy put his mouth where his money was. I was and am still thoroughly entertained by this movie.

 

[Seminiferous]

Sorry, I misread the OP. I obviously thought he meant 'Whitey.' My bad.

 

[dmm5157]

I watched it a few years ago, thought it was still pretty good. Never watched it as a very deep movie, but I've always found it entertaining. Vintage Woody Harrelson, and Snipes was on as well. RP was annoying as hell, as always, but she did have some nice cans.

 

[KitingHigh]

Best part about this movie was that when it came out. I had the highest vertical jump in my high school and could dunk quite well despite being 5'9".

 

[Squirrel J.]

You can put a cat in the oven, but that don't make it a biscuit.

 

[MrOsceola]

Overall, one of the best basketball movies ever made. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly...

The good-
The basketball is mostly pretty realistic. Woody Harrelson has skills, and Wesley Snipes is realistic enough to get by. The scenes involving basketball are all pretty realistic, this is coming from a guy who has played pick up basketball with guys from the hood.

The guy banter is mostly good, especially the trash-talking in games. Some of the stuff between Snipes and Harrelson is good, some is a stretch, but overall, it's good.

The story is pretty good...two guys trying to better themselves, both have flaws, but the one thing that they can both always rely on is basketball. They never fail when it comes to the game itself.

I also liked the Jeopardy story line...amusing.

The scene with Marques Johnson (an actual former NBA player) robbing the store to get money to bet on his game with was taken from an actual story about a guy the director knew. Funny.

The ending is realistic.

The Bad-
Some of the dialogue was cheesy. At the time, a black guy and a white guy wouldn't be arguing about Jimi Hendrix, for example.

Sidney's appearance wasn't probably what street ball players would wear, but that's quibbling.

The Ugly-
Rosie Perez-My god, the voice. How did she ever get parts in Hollywood movies. They could have found better.

 

[Bartdog]

Just going off a very old memory from when I watched it many years ago the thing that I didn't like was the flaws of Billy's character. That's just me I don't like movies where the main characters have something that seems so fixable and get into situations that to me are avoidable. I think the same thing when I see Back to the Future II with the whole Marty McFly "chicken" thing. Just makes me cringe.

That's more my issue I guess, my personal peeves.