Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson star in this sports comedy about streetball hustlers in White Men Can't Jump.Screenwriter and director Ron Shelton tells a story of two con artist who picks up basketball games.Rosie Perez co-stars.Caucasian Billy Hoyle and African-American Sidney Deane become partners in hustling street games for basketball by lulling their black players as victims with the notion that white men aren't good ballplayers.Both try to raise money for their needs.But later,Deane realizes his actions aren't morally right especially selling out on his own people.They try to renew their wrongful deeds and redeem themselves as the story progressed.The movie provides a lot to themes that deal with racial stereotypes like blacks superior talent in basketball and white being less athletic.Added to that,we also get to see Hispanics come into the picture with Rosie's character of Gloria being in an interracial relationship with a Caucasian in Billy and her ability as a Jeopardy contestant.Overall,it was just more of a sports movie as it tries to disprove misguided notions about racial stereotypes.

This is the perfect example of how to make a great film. You don't need a huge budget, or big explosions or lots of extra's, glamorous costumes, huge sets and 4 hour run time. You take a solid story, cast great actors, with a really good supporting actors, and tell the story like its meant to be told.White men Can't Jump, is about how basketball, life and relationships. Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson team up on the playgrounds of L.A. to hustle all comers. The direction is sharp and the cinematography is surprisingly impressive as the mean streets of Los Angeles are caught with striking camera shots. The under-rated screenplay is intelligent, focused, and clever. You don't have to be a fan of the game to love this movie. It's fast paced, funny and if you are a fan of hoops then you are in Basketball movie heaven.

On an L.A. beachside basketball court, loudmouth Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes) gets schooled by goofy white boy Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson). It turns out that Billy is a former college player. Sidney lives with his very loud girlfriend Jeopardy-obsessed Gloria Clemente (Rosie Perez) on the run from thugs. Sidney suggests teaming up to hustle some real money before competing in a two on two tournament.There are plenty of yo'mama jokes. It's ridiculous. It's irreverent. It's hilarious. Snipes and Harrelson have great chemistry. Rosie Perez is a gem. She's not only a looker but also an explosive personality. This is simply a fun, fun romp. The movie tries its best to make the guys look good on the court. It succeeds for the most part. This is a great trio and a fun time with racial comedy.

This is not a comedy. This is a Basketball Jones fantasy. It's gritty and full of low rent district locales in SoCal: Watts, Venice Beach, South Central L.A., maybe East L.A.. There's a lot of trash talk and mother talk, some of it funny. This is about a white dude who is black even though he is as white as Gomer Pyle. And about as smart. This is about being white in a black world. It's about being a loser as far as women are concerned. This is about being a loser period.Woody Harrelson as Billy Hoyle is the loser. Wesley Snipes as Sidney Dean is the hotshot, hotdog, street wise hoops hustler who sees some value in an undersized white guy who plays better than he looks, although he can't jump. In a sense this is a buddy movie, 1990s style. They team up and hustle two-on-two pickup basketball for cash on outdoor courts with metal nets. They're good and they usually win.This is also about their relationship with their women. Rosie Perez plays Gloria Clemente who is a bit too smart for Billy. She spends her time imbibing endless trivia in prep for being on TV's Jeopardy. Tyra Ferrell plays Sidney's wife. She's also smarter than her man but long suffering in the ghetto. Some real life hoopsters make an appearance. I spotted Marques Johnson and Nigel Miguel, both of whom played for UCLA. Ron Shelton, who wrote and directed the excellent baseball movie Bull Durham (1988) wrote and directed here. He does a good job although I do have some points to make.One, you can't hustle hoops in the manner depicted. The main problem is the officiating. There is no way to settle disputes about fouls and who touched the ball last when going out of bounds. I played pickup basketball all over the South Bay area of Los Angeles for decades and I can tell you that when the games were close every missed shot was a foul, and the only way it got settled was to "shoot for it"; that is, the guy who claimed he was fouled when he missed the shot had to "do or die" from the free throw line or (more often in the bigger games) from the top of the key. If he makes it, his team gets the ball out of bounds. If he misses, the other team gets the ball. If you're playing for some serious money, these disputes would go on forever, not to mention the fact that somebody might just lay some hard fouls on somebody and what you would end up with is the bigger, tough guys winning. In fact, if one team is about to win against a bigger, badder team they might NEVER get a shot off.A secondary problem is the white ringer deal only works once.In reality there is enough ego involvement in these pickup games that you don't need to put any money on the line. Your self-identity as a basketball player is already on the line. Additionally, most guys who play pickup basketball play it for recreation, for staying in shape, for camaraderie. And yes there are some VERY serious pickup games with some very good players all over the Los Angeles area, although the best of them are played in high school, JC or college gyms indoors. Incidentally, by the time this movie was produced (it came out in 1992) most of the games in the L.A. area were played full court, not two on two; and before that, going back to the sixties, the default half court game was three on three.Well, in a Hollywood movie a realistic depiction of a milieu usually isn't the point. The point is entertainment, and in this sense White Men Can't Jump does alright. Snipes and Harrelson, by the way, can play a little, although it's mostly the camera work and the slow-mo that makes them look good.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)