Los hombres blancos no saben saltar

Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson star in this film as a couple of con men scheming their ways on the basketball court by betting on their opposing allies. With an intriguing story line added with likable and rootable leads, also with clever sub plots, this film succeeds as an entertaining piece of sports film. Although this film does feel outdated watching in today's day and age, it holds up and is better than initially expected. Rosie Perez is another piece which stands out for the better. White Men Can't Jump got its attention due to its title but it's more than just a sports film, it's further about life and relationships. Underrated film if anything.

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. All in all "White Men Can't Jump" is far from being a classic, but it is still a fine film that is better than many think. 4 stars out of 5.

Recently seeing a trailer for a remake of this iconic but somewhat forgotten 90's film made me realise the original was long overdue a rewatch.

It is more than just a sports film, it's a an evolution of the 'buddy' movies and 'odd couple' movies of 80's (think Lethal Weapon, Stir Crazy, Twins, Trading Places). So in effect it is about the relationship, and the chemistry between Snipes and Harrelson is excellent. You really feel for each character in their highs and especially lows throughout the movie, and wonder how they will scrape themselves out the next scam they create.

The games scenes are really well shot with slo-mo action of the actors doing some cool skills and plays on the court, making me wonder how long they trained at basketball to prepare for this film!? The comedy element does not get overlooked either and the banter between the two leads is especially fun and does not feel forced. Also worth a mention is the scene of the store hold up robbery which is a genuinely funny moment.

On the downside, It does feel a little dated now, from the court fashion to the scenes of the tough neighbourhoods and the assorted hustlers and gangs, you don't get the impression of any true danger to the interlopers. Also some of the stereotypes are quite cliched, but then the film is really based wholly on the one big stereotype of the title.

Overall a good movie that is original and has a more genuinely fun interplay of characters than you might expect. A fun and somewhat underrated movie.

7/10.

After Billy Hoyle hustles Sidney Deane on the basketball court, Deane offers Billy a proposition about teaming up to hustle the courts of Los Angeles. They are a great team, they are in fact wonderful players, but egos and greed are sure to become a problem, oh and Billy has some rather unsavoury characters after him to return a debt he owes. Can the boys resolve their differences? Can they keep their devoted women happy? All will be revealed in White Men Can't Jump.

White Men Can't Jump is a fine sports movie, offering up more than just a basic sport heart, it's funny, sly and really a rather effective piece of drama. The basketball scenes are very well handled by director Ron Shelton, with slow motion spins and beady drips of sweat glistening in the heat, and the chemistry between Woody Harrelson (Billy) and Wesley Snipes (Sidney) is first class, but really it's the power of Shelton's writing that makes this a most engaging picture (see also Bull Durham & the similarly undervalued Tin Cup).

After following these two guys thru their very rocky relationship you get to a point where you feel that we are about to wander down formula road, but Shelton pulls a trick to make the final last quarter an excellent, none conformity piece of film, one that judging by the less than favourable rating on this particular site, has not been wholly appreciated. Shame that, because other than Rosie Perez doing her best to annoy the viewers to death as Billy's suffering girlfriend Gloria Clemente, White Men Can't Jump is one of the better sports movies of the 90s. 7.5/10

Ron Shelton does it again. He does a great job of capturing the culture of basketball hustlers and how they go from court to court hustling games and making money. He gets everything right even down to the trash talk on the court. Woody Harrelson is perfect as the n'er do well Billy and Wesley Snipes is perfect as the fast talking Sidney. This also to me is the breakout performance of Rosie Perez. Perez is perfect as Billy's kookie girlfriend Gloria. This film is definitely a classic.