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.

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.

The original was more raw and a decent representation of the times.

The new version is also good representation of the times, but feels less raw and has Hollywood polish all over it. It's hilarious that this qualifies as an rated R movie when it seems more like a PG or G rated movie.

There were some laughs and the story was okay, but don't expect too many similarities or a connection to the original. The only thing that was similar was that there was a black and white guy that randomly team up to enter a 2 on 2 basketball tournament. Everything else was pretty different.

I wish Disney/Fox would stop remaking classics to make a quick buck off of fans. It's disappointing because they're ruining the memories people have of the original versions.

If you have nothing better to watch then it's a decent time filler, but don't dedicate your time to watching it.

I don't think it's a 1/10 rating, but it's certainly not above a 6/10 rating. I'd put it around a 3 or 4 out of 10 rating. The characters were likeable, so I went with 4.

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!

Where to begin? If this movie was "stand alone" it would be maybe a 3.5 star worthy made for tv movie. It could do little to be any more different from the classic Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson film. The two similarities are that, basketball is a theme, and one white character and one black character. Aside from that, they are not similar. It seems like the studio was so excited to license the title that they forgot to hire someone to write a script. They could have ripped the old script verbatim and it probably would have been better. Andrew Schulz' character may be the only watchable performance. That is not to say that all the acting was bad, but the plot and development would have made it impossible for a main character to stand out. Lance Reddick would be ashamed to have it dedicated to him. What a barely watchable pile of Hollywood money grab excrement.