Two promising former basketball players combine their talents despite their different personalities in order to win amateur matches on the different courts of Los Angeles.
I have nothing against remake. Good or bad, the films that inspired them will always exist. And proposing a new version of a work necessarily entails comparison. Especially if the original is dear to us.
For me, this applies to White Men Can’t Jump. I first saw Ron Shelton’s movie when I was 11 or 12, on VHS, when basketball was quickly taking over my identity. My friends and I thought Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson were so cool. Although far from perfect, this 1992 comedy has become cult and its authenticity a little trash charming residence.
A new version produced by 20th Century – read Disney – with nice rapper Jack Harlow starring feared the worst. The trailer inspired us with even less confidence. Analogy is not good sport, but the White Men Can’t Jump from Calmatic (house partyanother remake) left with two takes.
Proof that you always have to give the runner a chance – again the bad sport – this new version is quite good, and not smooth and tasteless, as I feared.
Street basketball has many unwritten codes and rules. Insults and swear words – the trash talk – are part of the game. This new White Men Can’t Jump anchors its narrative even more firmly in this culture than its predecessor. The light valves are replaced by harsher words, but at least as funny. The dialogues of screenwriters Kenya Barris and Doug Hall (the series Black-ish And Grown-ish) sometimes resemble those of comedians stand up there are so many jokes everywhere.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS
Myles Bullock and Vince Staples portray Renzo and Speedy respectively.
Jack Harlow surprises us with his ease as an injury-ravaged former Gonzaga University star. Adept at meditation and full of contradictions, he still dreams of a professional career. Sinqua Walls plays Kamal Allen, who was destined for the NBA before his arrest. He’s somewhat boring, but his relationship with his father Benji, played by the late Lance Reddick, is touching. Although lacking in depth, the characters played by Teyana Taylor, Laura Harrier, Vince Staples and Myles Bullock contribute to the story or are comical.
The music is varied, both in genres and eras. The basketball scenes are well filmed, although the use of slow motion becomes excessive during the final tournament. The journey to get there is too long.
Even if the total duration is only slightly more than an hour and a half, the story progresses little between the beginning and the end. It’s basically about the birth of an unlikely friendship. It’s cute in its own way, but would I have reviewed this Disney+ exclusive film if the title had been Basketball Buddies rather than White Men Can’t Jump ?
On Disney+
Comedy
White Men Can’t Jump (V.F.: White people can’t jump)
Calmatic
Starring Sinqua Walls, Jack Harlow, Teyana Taylor
1:41 a.m.
On Disney+