The movie centres on Kamal Allen (Sinqua Walls) and Jeremy (Jack Harlow), two former NBA aspirants. To support his wife Imani (Teyana Taylor), a hairdresser with aspirations of owning a salon, and their son Drew (Aiden Shute), Kamal works as a delivery guy to make ends meet. Kamal still plays pick-up basketball despite losing interest in the sport. Jeremy, a strange white man, coaches young basketball players and runs a side company selling homemade detox drinks. He shares a home with Tatiana (Laura Harrier), a gifted choreographer who, due to financial constraints, is unable to grow in her work. When Jeremy starts a bet with Kamal, it starts a series of events that leads to the two of them running a hustle together throughout the Los Angeles streetball scene. In a two-on-two competition, the big cash prize is the objective.

As a comedy, the remake falls short. A likeable, well-cast ensemble makes a few zingers entertaining, but the writing lacks the original's clever, whip-smart flare. Barris and Hall's writing is clunky and hollow, despite some changes made to reduce the insensitivity common in 90s movies. The conversation is stilted and without charm. The striking contrast between the revised script and Ron Shelton's original script is best captured in one specific instance. In the first movie, Sidney and Billy (Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, respectively) argue over Jimi Hendrix after pulling off their first hustle together successfully.

The film has its moments, even though it isn't quite as funny as the original. The two standouts are Vince Staples and Myles Bullock. They interact naturally and frequently make references to the group that Wesley Snipes' Sidney ran with in the original. The plot of the film remains mostly unchanged, but Barris and Hall's writing approaches exhaustion insofar as it neither gives any novel perspectives on contemporary pop culture nor fosters the relationship between Jeremy and Kamal. Their writing's awareness of the clichés that shaped the original is a plus, but Barris continues to show that his work lacks true humour, and that is the film's main flaw.

White Men Can't Jump is acceptable in a technical sense. The direction of Calmatic is not very elaborate. Although there are some good camera moves, the scene changes don't flow as smoothly as they did in the original movie. Both films make excellent use of Los Angeles as a background because of how vibrant it always remains. Without overlooking contemporary aesthetics and cultural preferences, the production design and costumes successfully connect the past and present. However, Calmatic once again produced a remake that followed the fundamental format of the original but fell short of recapturing its allure.




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Movie Review

G GOWTHAM

28/05/2023 11:05 AM