He Got Game
“He Got Game” is a movie I didn’t really appreciate at the time I saw it in theatres in 1998. I was still relatively early in watching Spike Lee’s films, so I wasn’t familiar with how he told his stories thematically and stylistically. Watching it almost 24 years later, his choices make so much more sense to me, and why he decided this was a story that needed to be told at that time is clear.
Let’s start with this choice to use Aaron Copland’s score. I had forgotten that he did not enlist his regular composer, Terrence Blanchard, to write the music here, but right away, Copland’s music plays a tremendous part in Lee’s commentary on America in this film. Few composers are as synonymous with “Americana,” and this film is very much steeped in the idea of the “American dream,” and Lee’s reflection on the reality of that dream for Black America. That’s what didn’t particularly register with me, mainly because, I didn’t know as much about that experience as I’ve come to learn since. In that prism, “He Got Game” is one of the most vital and brilliant films of Lee’s career.
Denzel Washington plays Jake Shuttlesworth, and when we see him first, he’s on the prison basketball court. We’ll comes to find out that he was imprisoned for murdering his wife, the mother of his two children, Mary (Zelda Harris) and Jesus (NBA star Ray Allen). Jesus is one of the most promising recruits coming out of high school, and a lot of people are waiting to see what his future looks like, including his high school coach (Arthur J. Nascarella), his girlfriend (Lala, played by Rosario Dawson) and his aunt and uncle, who have raised him since Jake went away. Another person who’s curious is the governor of New York. One week before the signing deadline, Jake is brought in to the warden’s office (the warden is played by Ned Beatty), and he has a proposition for Jake- if Jake can get Jesus to commit to Big State University (the governor’s alma mater), then Jake will be in line for a reduced sentence. That’s easier said than done when Jesus wants nothing to do with him.
The film begins with a montage of basketball players and coaches, basketball in the stadiums, on the street courts, in driveways. With Copland’s music as an accompaniment, we feel the profound connection between athleticism and passion the sport has on display. It’s a bombastic opening sequence that captures triumph and emotion in the game, and sets the stage for a dissection of the ugly business behind it. Everyone has an agenda when it comes to Jesus- Jake, Lala, his coach, his aunt and uncle (Michele Shay and Bill Nunn), as well as a slick promoter he knows in “Big Time Willie” (Roger Guenveur Smith)- and it’s hard to see whether any of them truly have his best interests at heart. In reality, I think Jake is the most authentic with him, and one of the things that makes this film work so well is how, while Jake certainly would like his freedom, he does approach Jesus as a father first. We can tell he’s, fundamentally, a good man, even before we see- in flashback- what happened with Jake’s wife. There’s a subplot involving a hooker (Milla Jovovich) that doesn’t really add anything to the movie, but speaks to the good in Jake, and how he’s trying to be honest. Washington is terrific in the film- in fact, this might be only second to his work as Malcolm X in his collaborations with Spike Lee.
Ray Allen is not bad in this movie. Athletes acting is always a dicey situation, but he acquits himself well, whether it’s his relationship with Dawnson, his scenes with Washington, Harris and Nunn, or a key scene with his high school coach where the coach tries to get him to decide his future sooner rather than later. The one thing that comes out about Jesus that is essential is that every choice he makes is for his own benefit. Whether it’s a good decision or a bad decision, it’s still his to make, and it’s indicative of the values he got from both his mother and his father, whether he wants to admit the positive influence the latter had on him or not.
“He Got Game” is a personal drama, first and foremost, but it also is an indictment of America, in how it uses student athletes for selfish purposes; how the promise of a better life usually comes with a price tag; and how white America has spent generations exploiting Black Americans for its own gain. Was there ever really a promise from the governor of leniency for Jake? How much of a mentor was the coach? Ultimately, we feel like the choices made by the main characters in this film are pure ones, away from outside pressures, whether it was a promise of freedom, or who won a basketball game between father and son. They ended up where they were because of their choices. Truly, there’s nothing more American than that.
