Above the Rim

Kyle Lee Watson is a cocky high school basketball star. Bugaloo (Marlon Wayans) is his loudmouth friend. Flip Johnson (Bernie Mac) is a local homeless guy. Tommy Shepard (Leon) is a high school security guard who secretly used to be a star player. His brother Birdie (Tupac Shakur) is a local drug lord. Shep starts going out with Kyle's mother. Kyle falls under Birdie's influence.

This movie starts with a ridiculous scene. Shep and his friend are playing basketball on the roof of a building. There's no fence. The friend tries to dunk and smash through the backboard falling to his death. The setup is stupid to begin with but it also looks stupid. It takes awhile for the movie to regain its credibility. It helps that there are some good acting going on here. I especially like Leon and Tupac. They are compelling brothers. I really like their story and their chemistry. The rest are solid. I just wish they redo that opening scene.

This movie deserves more credit then critics should give. This movie had an all star cast as the up and coming Marlon Wayans,Tupac Shakur,Leon,Duane Martin,Henry Simmons,Bernie Mac,and the lovely Tonya Pinkins. Each actor played their part magnificiently and it was hip,touching,and realistic. The beginning was a little off when Leon dreamed of his best friend's death and then focused mainly on Duane Martin's basketball skills,and him trying to get into Georgetown University. Marlon Wayans was the comic relief in the film who's been released from prison. Bernie Mac was the homeless man who was interested in basketball but never made it. Tupac was the ruthless street hustler and the coach of a dirty playing basketball team. There were other former R&B stars who starred in the movie but only had small parts. To wrap it up in a nutshell Above the rim to me is one of the most memorable urban basketball movies I've ever saw.

This movie is definitely a memorable hood movie, don't know why it's not up their with the others.

The thing that stood out the most in this movie was that it is not a basketball movie. It's a hood movie. I was expecting it to be a basketball movie set that just happens to be in the hood, but no. Still, it's got a lot of action packed exciting basketball scenes in it. While it's not a basketball movie, any fan of basketball should enjoy it.

Overall it's a good movie. Should be a good watch for fans of hood movies, fans of basketball, or both.

This movie has a real street feel to it,and it shows the meaning of true friends and how difficult some kids have growing up in world with drugs and crime. One of my favorit movies in this genre,and this movie also contains some real cool basketball scenes.

An absolute all rounder. The cast, the plot, the basketball all come 2getha 4 an absolute stunner of a film. The Medina/Pollack influence is clear (Fresh Prince), the film offers a realistic portrayal of life in the hood.Wayans is on a mental one the entire film, while Leon gives a far more sombre, dark performance as the traumatised player who could have had it all.Tupac......Tupac is Tupac and it don't get any better (or realer) than that. The film has some slight issues regarding the love interest (Kyle's mom and Shep)which I don't feel is entirely necessary, but my girlfriend thought it was cute so the film has the potential to appeal to all.But it, rent it, watch it, steal it, borrow it...do something to see this film and remember...."Recognise mother******!"