Nineties nostalgia has extended now to returning to the blacktop courts where Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson hustled and Rosie Perez studied 鈥淛eopardy!鈥� answers for foods beginning with the letter 鈥淨.鈥�
Why, you ask? The principal reason seems to be giving Jack Harlow, a charismatic, fast-rising white rapper making his acting debut, a vehicle for his laid-back charm.
The original 鈥淲hite Men Can鈥檛 Jump鈥� thrived on Harrelson鈥檚 goofball energy and the 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 hear Jimi鈥� trash talk of Snipes, a criminally underrated comic actor (see 鈥淒olemite Is My Name鈥�). The contributions of Perez, a hooped-earrings firecracker who makes any movie a little better, shouldn鈥檛 be minimized, either. 鈥淲hite Men Can鈥檛 Jump,鈥� the rare sports movie where the woman (Perez) walks out on the guy (Harrelson), hinged mostly on its off-court drama.
This limp, half-hearted, breezy remake makes some modest improvements. The film, directed by Calmatic, bounces to a hip-hop beat and the gameplay action is smoother. But the drop off in personality from that original trio is like going from the Lakers to the G-League.
Sinqua Walls stars as Kamal, a once highly touted prospect whose professional career derailed in a rage-fueled incident the film slowly reveals through flashbacks. (The late Lance Reddick plays Kamal鈥檚 father in one of his last performances.) He鈥檚 now struggling through a job delivering packages while customers often ridicule him for how low he鈥檚 fallen. His girlfriend, Imani (Teyana Taylor), though, lovingly supports him.
One day at the gym, Jeremy (Harlow) makes a loud entrance, dressed like, as one character later says, a Sierra Mist can. Kamal鈥檚 friend Speedy (Vince Staples) notices him and says, 鈥淭hey let yoga instructors into the gym now?鈥� Jeremy, a former player at NCAA powerhouse Gonzaga now hobbled by knee pain, is there to hustle games and sell some detox drinks.
Harlow鈥檚 character is brash, as Harrelson鈥檚 was, but he鈥檚 sweeter. His trash talk is earnest. He meditates. The joke isn鈥檛 that he鈥檚 racially out of touch, it鈥檚 that he's almost too sensitive.
Mostly, he鈥檚 a chatty, charming nuisance that Kamal reluctantly turns to as an on-court partner with hopes of a big cash prize in a three-on-three tournament. Jeremy, meanwhile, has a girlfriend, Tatiana (Laura Harrier), who鈥檚 pressing him to grow up and find a real job.
Calmatic worked in music videos (Lil Nas X鈥檚 鈥淥ld Town Road鈥�) before making his directorial debut earlier this year with a reboot of 1990鈥檚 鈥淗ouse Party.鈥�
And he films with a polish that takes out some of the asphalt grit that the movie needs. If the original resided on the blacktop, as any pick-up basketball movie should, this remake curiously favors indoor hoops. Last year鈥檚 surprisingly good basketball movie, with Adam Sandler, had the texture the game deserves.
Walls holds his own in 鈥淲hite Men Can鈥檛 Jump鈥� and Harlow has an easy charm. His debut pales next to those of rappers like Ice Cube, Mos Def and Tupac Shakur. It鈥檚 asking too much, though, for him to supply so much of the comedy here. The jokes, too, are timid. How is it possible that in today鈥檚 fraught America, the biggest debate Jeremy and Kamal get into is over whether Spike Lee or Paul Thomas Anderson is the better filmmaker?
There are a few suggestions that betting on pick-up basketball might not be the hustle it once was. Try crypto, one character suggests. Another says it鈥檚 clear now that white players can ball. I鈥檓 not sure it鈥檚 so different than in 1992, when Chris Mullin and John Stockton were in the league. Now there鈥檚 Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic and Tyler Herro, who makes a cameo. No mention is made of the recent NBA dunk champ, the 6鈥�2鈥欌�� Mac McClung, but an older winner of that contest, Blake Griffin, is an executive producer.
But one thing should not have changed. This 鈥淲hite Men Can鈥檛 Jump鈥� never gives its girlfriend characters much to do. They mostly recede as the on-court exploits take over, thus ignoring Perez鈥檚 wise words from the original: 鈥淎lways listen to the women.鈥�
鈥淲hite Men Can't Jump,鈥� a 20th Century Studios release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for pervasive language and some drug material. Running time: 101 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
