You don't have to like the sport of Basketball to enjoy He Got Game. The movie itself may be centered around the sport, but it's more about the relationship....or lack of one between a Father (Denzel Washington) and his Son (Ray Allen). When the movie starts, we see that Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel) is being released from Prison temporarily, with one thing in mind, to get Jesus Shuttlesworth (Ray) to commit to the College of the State Governor with the promise of a reduce prison term. Why Jake is in prison isn't immediately revealed to us and why the animosity that exist between Jake and Jesus will slowly present itself over the course of the film.

For the longest time, this was a 10 Star movie for me. But the last couple of times I've watched it, it has  really started to show its age, especially in the dialogue of the screenplay. With this being written and directed by Spike Lee, some of the slang that was used at the time, now seems like a million years ago. Definitely dated. Also, the movie does run a bit too long now and I think the scenes with Jake and Dakota (Milla Jovovich) do seem pointless and takes away from the main plot of the movie. I get why the scenes are there, tp expand on the character of Jake. But it could definitely have been trimmed for time.

One thing that I really like about the film, aside from the acting, is the aesthetic of how the film was shot and edited together. This is straight up a film in every sense of the word. But there are times when the movie shifts gears and feels like a documentary, especially when the coaches are talking about Jesus. Also, there are some great cutaway scenes to random shots, that really aren't random, but tell a story. 

I still love the movie, but it's no longer the perfect movie it use to be. I own it, but I can see that unless you are a Denzel fan or a Ray fan or a Spike fan, you're better off at least giving this a Rental. For me, it's still a Buy. I'm not a Basketball fan as most already know. You can count on one hand how many Basketball players I have followed in my lifetime: Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Ray Allen. I started tracking his career after seeing He Got Game when it first came out. He's that good in his role as the High School Basketball Phenom.

I may have heard of this, but I know I haven't seen it.