Los hombres blancos no saben saltar

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.

This movie is well-made: it tells a good story, and maintains high production values. The playing-off of different cultures does not really work, but then again that was not central to the story. The hustler being hustled theme could have done with some more Roald Dahl-like wit, but all in all this is an amusing comedy (it does not reach out enough to be considered a dramedy) and a worthy rental for those boring winter evenings.

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.

Wesley and Woody are great together. Perez is a plus. 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. Hustle out to the video store and rent yourself a copy. The film also has more Mama jokes than you can shake a stick at.

A gritty comedy set in some tough LA neighborhoods about two basketball hustlers, one white (Woody Harrelson), the other black (Wesley Snipes). After hustling each other, they finally team up to play in a tournament, where with a combination of skill and trash talk they defeat the two guys who normally would have left them in the dust. The trash talk gets silly at times, while the subplot of underworld characters who are chasing Harrelson for an unpaid debt seems to be there only to explain logically why he hustles in the first place, as if he would do something else with his life. In any event, the games go from Venice Beach to Watts, and the settings are as good as the stars. Especially so are the cheap motels where Harrelson and girlfriend Rosie Perez have to live, and the inner city apartment where Snipes and his wife Tyra Ferrel call home, all of which adds up to a realistic slice of life at the time, which now seems to look quite a bit different. Intelligently written and well photographed, it has laid in the back of the shelves at countless video stores waiting to be rediscovered.