White Men Can't Jump is a 1992 film starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as basketball hustlers, co-starring Rosie Perez. The film was written and directed by Ron Shelton and released in theaters on March 27, 1992 by 20th Century Fox.
Plot
Billy Hoyle (Harrelson) is a former college-level basketball player who makes a living hustling streetballers who assume he cannot play well because he is white. The hustle is even more provocative because, although he appears to be "a chump" and "a geek," Hoyle never downplays his skill to increase the stakes; it is the African-American basketball players' own assumptions that are at the root of the hustle.
Such a talented but arrogant player is Sidney Deane (Wesley Snipes), a star on the Venice Beach, California outdoor courts. He is humiliated twice by Billy in front of his friends, losing a wager. But he also recognizes a good thing when he sees one and immediately begins to think of a number of ways Billy can be useful to him.
Billy and his girlfriend Gloria Clemente (Rosie Perez) are on the run from out-of-state mobsters because of a gambling debt. A voracious reader, making note of obscure facts, Gloria's goal in life is to be a contestant on the television show Jeopardy! and make a fortune. Sidney's mission in life is to buy a house for his family outside the rough Baldwin Village, Crenshaw District neighborhood of Los Angeles.
He talks Billy into a partnership and they hustle other players for money. But when they unexpectedly lose a game, it turns out that Sidney has double-crossed Billy by deliberately playing badly alongside him, making Billy lose $1,700 to a group of Sidney's friends.
Gloria is incensed at Billy's blowing his money again and is also suspicious of how it happened. On the way to Sidney's apartment, she tells Billy: "Sometimes when you win, you really lose. And sometimes when you lose, you really win. And sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic globule, from which one extracts what one needs."
Once they get to Sidney's and appeal to his wife for fairness, Gloria and Sidney's partners agree to share some of the money. Sidney and Billy also are willing to team up again for a major 2-on-2 outdoor tournament.
While they bicker incessantly, Sidney and Billy do win the grand prize of $5,000, largely due to Billy's ability to disrupt his opponents' concentration. Billy's most notable claim is that he is "in the zone," a state of mind in which nothing can get in his way.
Sidney is pleased with the outcome, yet he can't help mocking Billy about his inability to slam dunk. "White men can't jump," he notes. Billy, however, claims that dunking the basketball is unnecessary grand-standing, while expressing a belief that guys like Sidney would "rather look good and lose than look bad and win."
Billy insists that he can indeed dunk but Sidney clearly disagrees. Infuriated, Billy claims he is willing to bet his $2,500 on his ability to dunk. Sidney accepts and gives him three chances. Billy fails, losing the $2,500. When he tells Gloria, she leaves him.
Gloria dreams of appearing on the quiz show Jeopardy! and she devotes nearly every waking moment to memorizing obscure facts. Fortunately, one of Sidney's friends works as a security guard at the TV studio which produces the show. He agrees to get her on the show, if Billy can sink a half court hook shot, which he does. To begin, Gloria stumbles over sports questions (notably naming Babe Ruth as the NBA's leading rebounder), but makes a comeback with a pet topic, "Foods beginning with the letter 'Q'". She wins $14,100 on her first episode. Gloria and Billy get back together. The set used was from Jeopardy's first season with the 1991-96 set and was taped at stage 9 of Hollywood Center Studios.
Billy sings Gloria a song he has composed to win her back. Everything in his world is all right again, but now it is Sidney who suffers misfortune and needs a favor. He and his family are burgled and become more desperate for money. Billy is supposed to get a steady job and settle down, but Sidney needs him to play basketball for money again and use his share of Gloria's take.
Gloria warns that if Billy gambles with her money "we are through." Billy feels he must honor the obligation he owes Sidney for getting Gloria on "Jeopardy" in the first place. They play a final game against two hoops legends of the L.A. scene, "The King" and "Duck." In a very tight game, Sidney and Billy prevail, the winning points coming when Sidney lobs an "alley-oop" pass to Billy, who dunks it.
Returning home happily, Billy discovers Gloria has kept her word and left him for good. He is crushed. Then the mobsters who are after Billy track him down and he pays off his debts. Billy once again asks Sidney to set him up with a real job. As the closing credits are about to roll, Billy launches into yet another basketball argument with Sidney and they are right back where they began.
Cast
Reception
White Men Can't Jump grossed $14,711,124 in 1,923 theaters in its opening weekend, with a total gross of $76,253,806 in the U.S. and $90,753,806 worldwide [1] and was the 16th highest grossing movie of 1992.
The film received generally positive reviews. It currently has a 78 percent "fresh rating" on Rotten Tomatoes, with 28 positive reviews.[2] Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun Times gave the film three and a half stars, saying it was "not simply a basketball movie", praising Ron Shelton for "knowing his characters".[3] Janet Maslin from New York Times praised Wesley Snipes for his "funny, knowing performance with a lot of physical verve".[4]
Production
Bob Lanier, Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks legend and Hall of Famer, was hired as basketball coach for the movie. He was impressed with Harrelson and Snipes, suggesting that both reached division III college basketball skill level.[citation needed]
The musical R&B quintet Riff recorded 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.
Marques Johnson has a supporting role as Raymond, who loses a game to Snipes and Harrelson. Johnson was a star player for UCLA's 1974-75 national championship team coached by John Wooden and later played for the NBA's Bucks, Clippers and Warriors.
Freeman Williams, who played "Duck" Johnson, also had a distinguished NBA career, playing for the Clippers, Jazz, and Bullets from 1978-86.
Future NBA player Gary Payton made an uncredited appearance as an unidentified street baller.[5]
The category "Foods that start with the letter 'Q'" was an actual category on an October 1997 episode of Jeopardy![6]
There is a video game based on the movie, for the Atari Jaguar console.
To introduce a new basketball shoe, Nike teamed up with the movie makers of "White Men Can't Jump" to assemble the package of shoes inspired by both characters Billy Hoyle and Sidney Deane.[7]
Awards and nominations
White Men Can't Jump was nominated for two MTV Movie Awards:
- Best Kiss (Woody Harrelson and Rosie Perez)
- Best On-Screen Duo (Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes)
References
External links
