White Men Can't Jump

I don't know why anyone thought this was a good idea because the original White Men Can't Jump is great with two characters played by two actors that are almost impossible to replicate. The chemistry between Walls and Harlow is cheesy at best. Wesley Snipes who apparently is not a good basketball player and they ran most of his basketball scenes in show motion especially that spin move that would never work against anyone still looks better than anything they were doing in this with people that are not bad ball players from what I've been told. Then there is Woody. Woody and Snipes were perfect and terrible together, but in a believable way. You could see them being life long best friends even after all the awful things they did to each other afterwards. I fell like I just reviewed the original against the new one and that's the very reason why this isn't going to be popular at all. It will be compared to the original because the original is a time capsule of sorts and beloved by most everyone. If you haven't seen the original watch it. Skip this. If you have hulu give this one a go I guess, but do not spend money on it.

I will say up front I didn't see the entire movie. I watched for 40 minutes and I had to turn it off! TOTALLY depressing movie. No fun, no excitement, just two lousy, bum dudes talking a lot of crap.

The first WMCJ was fun, had great realistic basketball action, romantic and sad all at the same time. It was a great movie from the opening scene until the end. This here, don't waste your time! Neither dude looks or moves like a baller. ESPECIALLY the black dude! He was so mis-cast in this movie. All he does is snarl, frown and be depressed. And he is the FURTHEST thing from a baller you could find. He's really not that good of an actor. I've seen him in other stuff and same role. Always a jerk. Nothing likeable about him at all. Together they have no chemistry and they definitely aren't funny like Woody & Wesley. The movie just went nowhere and I found zero joy in the 40 min I watched.

I'm sure most people will give it a watch based on the original but you'll see...

SKIP!

Obviously, I only watched this because I'm a huge fan of the original. It was odd because this version copies the basic structure of the original, even going to each iconic basketball court, like the fenced in court and the Watts court. There is zero tension though. Everything is just rushed though and none of the pick up games had any of the fun of the original. We don't really know why Jack Harlow's character is meant to be the underdog in the pickup games or why/how this is a hustle. I didn't like the director's choice to constantly use slow motion during the games either. It really detracted from excitement of the games/moves. Jack Harlow has a few nice moments, like when he's posing next to his car while Ed Sheeran plays. That was a funny scene, but for the most part, his acting is distractingly bad. We don't get any real moments with him, and there is a lack of commitment to either the trash talking or the zen. There's just a lot thrown into the back story of his and Sinqua Walls' characters with no pay off. Harlow's character seems to have a drug problem but is not addressed in the end. Walls' has a tragic moment, and a couple of minutes later is all smiles and jokey in (what's supposed to be) a comedic with Blake Griffin. Also not addressed. Ultimately, everything is unearned: Harlow and Walls' friendship, falling out, and redemption. The entire movie just goes through the motions. It was nice seeing Laura Harrier though.

First of all, selling this as a remake of a sensational film is a bad move. If you're not at least almost as good, you've already lost. But yeah, you probably get more views that way.

On its own, the film is OK. It's about basketball, after all, and it has one or two good scenes, such as Lance Reddick in the hospital. A 5 seems to be a fair rating to me.

In general, though, it's a good look at what's been lost in recent years. Microwave food instead of a home-cooked meal. Off-the-shelf goods instead of natural chemistry. Probably the zeitgeist of the decade. Maybe even Wesley and Woody wouldn't be able to make a film like the original WMCJ in 2023.

If you've seen the original, seriously, don't waste your time. It doesn't come close!

The best thing about this was Andrew Schulz and a few of the jokes scattered throughout the film.

To be honest this misses the mark and is just an average film, I know they had to change it up compared to the original, modernise it etcetera and they did that well, although in an annoying way, in my opinion, but I'm old enough to remember the original lol...

Which is a classic and still stands up today, there was no reason for a remake. This is just an average streaming film about basketball.

I'm trying to be vague here to avoid spoilers, but it feels like there's none of the ICONIC moments from the original, a lot of content and story missed out. It doesn't even feel like it's about the 2 of them, one is an extra in the others story and now the title doesn't even make sense...

Some okay acting performances and some of the soundtrack was alright I have to admit, but other than that nothing stands out.

The original is streaming for free as well, personally I feel like I've wasted an hour and a half odd, when I could have just watched the original, but I had to find out for myself since I'm a huge Schulz fan and he's mentioned it on Flagrant.

5/10 bang average streaming film, the funny moments saved it from being lower than that!