| White Men Can't Jump |
Article Index for White |
Limousines in White |
Website Links For White Men Cant Jump |
Information AboutWhite Men Can't Jump |
|
''White Men Can't Jump'' is a 1992 Feature Film starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as Basketball Hustler s. Rosie Perez co-stars as Harrelson's girlfriend. The film was written and directed by Ron Shelton . It was released to theatres on March 27 1992 by 20th Century Fox . PLOT SYNOPSIS Woody Harrelson plays Billy Hoyle, a talented Basketball player whose only source of income is to play on people's prejudices that White people cannot play basketball very well. He uses his talent to earn money by hustling streetball players. The 'hustle' is even more provoking as Billy never plays badly to increase the money stakes, but rather the African-American basketball players in Venice Beach simply assume that as a 'white guy', Billy cannot play. The opening scene is set as Wesley Snipes ' character, Sidney Deane loses a game to Billy in front of all of his friends on the playground in Venice Beach, California. Both players earn significant income through street basketball and begin a partnership to earn money by using Billy's skin colour as a hustle tactic. In one game however, Sidney sets Billy up by deliberately playing badly alongside him and against a group of his friends, who take his $1700 and split it among them. and later by legal means in a community basketball tournament. By this point Sidney has noticed Billy's tendency not to slam-dunk the ball. Billy says this is as he feels it is unneccessary showboating (also believing that African-American s are more interested in looking good than winning), while Sidney holds the view expressed in the film's title. He also believes that white people only 'listen to' Jimi Hendrix but don't 'hear' him, also being surprised to learn that the other 2 members of the Jimi Hendrix Experience were white. Billy is trying to pay off his girlfriend's debt as they are both on the run from mobsters and Sidney is attempting to buy a house for himself and family outside of the slums of LA. Billy's girlfriend Gloria Clemente, played by Rosie Perez , has a dream of appearing on the quiz show Jeopardy! ; she devotes nearly every waking moment to memorising obscure facts. Fortunately one of Sidney's friends works at the TV company which makes the show, and agreed to fix it that she gets on the show - as long as Billy can sink a long shot, which he does. The categories rigged to be her areas of expertise. She goes on and easily wins $12000 on her first episode. After their relationship briefly hits the rocks, they appear to be back on track, when Sidney is burgled and becomes more desperate for money. A pair of ageing hustlers return to the scene, and Sidney convinces Billy to take them on, much to Gloria's dismay. He wins the game (and the money to pay of fhis debts) but loses the girl. The movie ends with Sidney trying to sort him out with a job. TRIVIA Bob Lanier , the Pistons legend and Hall of Famer was hired as a basketball coach for the movie. He was impressed with Harrelson and Snipes, sugguesting that both reached college basketball skill level. The musical R&B quintet Riff made a song and accompanying music video called "White Men Can't Jump" for the movie. The music video featured Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes and Rosie Perez. It can be seen on the DVD release with bonus features. Duane Martin , who played Willie Lewis, and Freeman Williams , who played "Duck" Johnson, both had short NBA careers. Martin played briefly for the Knicks. Williams had an 8 year career where he played for the Clippers, Jazz, and Bullets from 1978-86. Duane Martin however received more prominence as an actor. He had a leading role in the movie Above The Rim alongside Tupac Shakur and he is also noteworthy for marrying the actress Tisha Campbell . EXTERNAL LINK |
|
|