He Got Game [1998, directed by Spike Lee]
A convict (Denzel Washington) is given a week out of prison to convince his son (Ray Allen), the #1 high school prospect in the country, to play for the Governor’s alma mater.
What really works for this film is Spike’s love for the game of basketball – and his desire with his films to put a mirror up to African-American society. The pressure for the son to sign from all fronts – the over-importance of athletics in our society – all may be dealt out a bit heavy handed – but take a back seat to the father son relationship that’s the main focus of the story. I quite liked how the friction of the relationship built up – and was relieved in a basketball game – and it boiled down to basketball was only the key to pull Jesus (the biblical pronunciation) out of the slum. I’m giving this one full marks – 5 out of 5.
Brick [2005, directed by Rian Johnson]
A high school student, Brendan Fry, investigates the murder of his ex-girlfriend through a web of intrigue.
This film’s description really doesn’t do it justice – as I’ve been aware of its critical acclaim – but avoided it - as it sounded rather dull. What it should be described as is – a lost treatment for a classic film noir crime drama is adapted to the modern day – with high school students as it’s focus. It’s spot on brilliant in its adaptation – as I was expecting some modern twist that would ruin the film – but it’s all too perfectly executed. The detective, the femme fatale, the crime boss, the thug, the small time street crook, the detective’s near invisible partner – all were executed so well – that you didn’t really care that they were all young people in the roles because the script, dialogue and overall film experience was very well done. Perfect marks for this one as well – 5 out of 5.
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