He Got Game

Ray Allen (1998)

Given his love of the game, when word got out that Spike Lee was directing a movie about a young basketball prodigy, many thought this had a chance to be one of the director’s best films. Once it was released, however, those people were quickly proven wrong. While Spike’s ridiculous script and unnecessary sub-plots should be blamed for a large part of the film’s failure, casting Ray Allen, especially in a movie that featured so little actual basketball, certainly didn’t help. No disrespect intended: Allen is an all-around nice guy, and he’s still playing at a very high level in the NBA; but thespian he is not. Putting him in scenes with one of the world’s greatest living actors, Denzel Washington, probably wasn’t the best game plan for success either. Allen fared a little better in his scenes with Rosario Dawson, but for the most part his reactions are stiff, his delivery is flat, and it feels like he is still running lines in dress rehearsal throughout the film. We’re going to throw up a prayer from half-court and wager he didn’t major in theater during his three years at UConn.

From IW: This is one I don't necessarily agree with, as it is one of my faves. I have to admit tho, it would've been very different without Denzel.