Classic Review: White Men Can’t Jump (1992)

White Men Can’t Jump is one of the many sports related films Ron Shelton directed in his decades long career and might even be the best of the bunch or at least the one that holds up the best all these years later. It stars Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in their second of four collaborations together (most of which are sports related), preceded by Wildcats and follows by Money Train and Play it to the Bone. Both Billy (Harrelson) and Sidney (Snipes) want a better life and are both desperate for money; Billy is on the run with his girlfriend Gloria (Perez) for a gambling debt he owes to some mobsters, while Sidney wants to move to a better neighborhood with his wife Rhonda (Tyra Ferrell). After Billy hustles Sidney twice in one day, the two join forces to double their chances of winning money on the street courts and in basketball tournaments across Los Angeles. White Men Can’t Jump is a sports comedy classic that’s hilarious, entertaining, and holds up remarkably well for a comedy made over 30-years ago especially in comparison to others from the same time.

This is Harrelson and Snipes at the height of their careers and their both equally hilarious as they are oddly charming and charismatic as Billy and Sidney. This plays to their strengths as actors and it resulted in some of their most memorable and iconic roles to date. Harrelson and Snipes both work so well together and the chemistry they share feels so genuine and real especially when they’re constantly bickering at each other. Watching them go from rivals to partners back to rivals and then eventually to friends is very entertaining to watch because of how well matched they are as a pair and how good of a job Shelton does at getting viewers to care about them. The fact that both leads are clearly playing basketball on screen rather than using doubles or sneaky camera techniques to hide behind, makes the basketball sequences all the more enjoyable too because it actually feels like watching real people play the sport rather than watching actors performing a choreographed routine. The basketball sequences in general are very well done and it’s even funnier watching them with the knowledge that Harrelson was the far better player than Snipes. Perez, meanwhile, is a major scene stealer as Billy’s girlfriend Gloria, easily one of her best roles to date. She brings a lot of heart and warmth to the film not to mention laughs, and you really buy her and Harrelson as a couple through all their ups and downs.

This is a 90’s film in every sense from the hip-hop infested soundtrack to the clothing, dialogue and just about everything else but that thankfully only adds to its charm and gives it a nice nostalgic feeling to when films like this weren’t so rare. Even though this is primarily known as a comedy, it has a lot of drama that surprisingly works, and Shelton finds a perfect balance between the two while touching upon the racial tension between its leads without it ever overtaking the central story or comedy. Like almost any sports film, it is a bit predictable and though it’s never boring, it does run a bit too long at just under 2-hours but other than those very minor nitpicks, White Men Can’t Jump definitely earns its reputation as a sports comedy classic.

Even though the outcome is predictable, it thankfully doesn’t involve a typical Hollywood ending and characters actually face consequences for their actions which is rare for a film back then and even more so nowadays. White Men Can’t Jump is just an all-around great film that’s very easy to recommend to just about anyone but especially basketball fans. Best of luck to the remake, which will be lucky if it even recaptures half the magic of this gem.

still courtesy of 20th Century Studios

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/