Years before Denzel Washington made headlines with box office hits like Man on Fire and The Equalizer, he teamed up with the incomparable Spike Lee to make, in my humble opinion, one of his best movies of all time: He Got Game.
It's not your run-of-the-mill, underdog sports drama (like, say, Coach Carter or Hoosiers). This film revolves around a high schooler named Jesus (Ray Allen)—the top basketball prospect in the country. The world knows his name. The world sees him as a "savior" and girls are pining for his attention, but then there are college recruiters and agents who won't give him a break, and members who expect him to carry them financially. It's a lot for a young man to handle. Especially when he's forced to confront his father (Washington) who's been serving time for accidentally killing his mother.
Now, I'm no basketball fan, and I can't personally speak to the film's impact on hoop culture, but I will say that it opened my eyes to the many pressures that real-life, up-and-coming athletes face. I took notice of the sneaky recruiting tactics and corrupt practices behind the scenes, and this definitely changed how I saw the sport. But as much as I appreciated the insight into the world of basketball, it's the other aspects of the film that left a bigger impact, like Washington's incredible performance and Lee's exploration of problematic family dynamics.
Here's why I think it's a must-watch.
