"all those lips all those hips all those honey dips."

the *most* Spike Lee joint there is? and the quintessential Denzel Washington performance.

that constant Copland score!

magical-realist touch certainly gives the impression that the bifurcated narrative comes together, but i get the impression that Spike was at war with his own cooked up abstractions... the director part of him wanted to let this story fly on its themes, but the writer part of him could never let that happen (hence, milla jovovich as one of the cinema's sweetest prostitutes). all the same, i cant' help but think that the ending works... the guard with the sniper rifle is a touch too far, and Ray Allen trying to command that long final shot is a bit of a laugh, but the shot counts even if it's off the rim.

Absolutely shite. Stool water of the highest order.

2 hours of Jeff all actually happening.

Not even worth a review.

I'm looking through his filmography and I can't find a film where Denzel did not deliver. He might be in a couple of bad films, there might be all kinds of bad performances around him, but he is always on top of the situation. He makes everything watchable.

In 'He Got Game' he delivers one of his stronger performances. He gets to work with some pretty complex things and knocks it out of the park of course.

It's a pretty interesting film, with Lee doing all kinds of slightly off-kilter things with the visuals and the story telling. The music was... I don't know. Can someone tell me what was going on there?

Well that was unexpected. I really enjoyed this, more than I thought. I couldn't really see how Spike Lee was going to stretch this story out to 2 hrs 10 mins but he did, fabulously. Denzel is great, no surprise there. Ray Allen was pretty convincing actually pretty damn good at times. The supporting cast features some big names, John Turtorro, Milla Jovovich, Rosario Dawson (and more) and they all play they're parts very well indeed. Visually, it's no masterpiece but at times Malik Hassan Sayeed and Ellen Kuras's genius eye(s) come into fruition. Soundtrack is boss, a mixture of Public Enemy and Aaron Copland. What is not to like?

Spike Lee is a filmmaker that I don't know nearly enough about, but I'm slowly working on fixing that. Boy oh boy, Denzel is absolutely terrific here. I know that isn't a surprise to anyone, but I was surprised by Ray Allen, who managed his way through the film without stalling it to a screeching halt, which was my expectation.

At the end of the day it's a sugar sweet father-and-son story bolstered by Denzel's committed performance (duh) and Spike Lee's directorial flair.

Spike's made some bold choices over the course of his career, but few pay off the way Aaron Copland does here.

As with every joint he makes, this movie's bursting with (perhaps too many) characters, memorable exchanges and inventive filmmaking -- but Denzel's unshowy work and the chemistry he musters with Ray Allen (!!!) make this absorbing at almost* every turn.

* = except for the time spent on the film's one-dimensional, Madonna or Whore stock female characters

Given only a week to convince his son to sign with Big State, the time frame gives this film a ticking clock momentum that can be found in Lee's best films (Do The Right Thing, 25th Hour, Inside Man). Really enjoyed the film, but the third act dragged a little which happens in most Spike Lee films, and the very end feels a little too fantastical for the realness of the rest of the film. There's also another fantastic Lee montage, the one with Big Time Willy in the car. Made me think of Hoop Dreams a lot.

Maybe the greatest premise since Some Like It Hot.

MVP: Denzel Washington

weird prequel to You've Got Mail

Spike Lee is so bold:
Basketball as America with Copland works, though Copland doesn't work in every scene. Public Enemy works. 
Casting Ray Allen works pretty well, but there's not a lot of range. 
Denzel gets better and better as the movie goes on. 
Spike does not do subtlety in symbols. Jesus will save. And the basketball connecting father/son at the end was a bit too much for me. 
The prison industrial complex doing what it wants with black lives was direct, but still impactful. 
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, and I think I got a better sense of Spike as a director, having watched Chi-Raq last year and Do the Right Thing 15 years ago. I now see more clearly what Spike is doing.

Dear Spike Lee,
Sometimes it's OK to make a 90 minute movie(joint).

Your friend,
Gus