He Got Game
Short description
Jake Shuttlesworth is serving time for killing his wife when the state governor offers him a way out: persuade his estranged son Jesus, the most sought-after high school basketball player in the country, to sign with the governor's favoured university, and his sentence will be reduced. Released from prison with a monitoring device on his ankle and installed in a run-down New York hotel, Jake has only days to reconnect with the son who has never forgiven him, while Jesus — who has raised his younger sister on his own — weighs college scholarships against a jump to the professional game.
Spike Lee directed and wrote the film, his tenth feature in a career that by then included She's Gotta Have It, Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X, coming between Girl 6 and Summer on Sam. Denzel Washington plays Jake and the basketball player Ray Allen, then known for his NBA career, plays Jesus; Rosario Dawson, Milla Jovovich, Hill Harper and Ned Beatty are among the large credited cast.
Released in 1998, the film runs 136 minutes and was made for about 25 million dollars, taking roughly 22 million worldwide. Audiences rate it 6.9 out of 10 on IMDb and 6.8 out of 10 on TMDB, while its critics' rating stands at 6.9 from 66 reviews, so viewers and reviewers are closely aligned on it.
What's left behind the scenes
- The girls with whom Jesus partied in the dormitory were played by adult film actresses Chasy Lane and Jill Kelly.
- The film's script stipulated that Jesus should win against Jake with a score of 15:0. Director Spike Lee suggested that the actors play for real. Initially, Denzel Washington, who played Jake, scored 4 points, to the delight of the film crew. Ray Allen, a professional basketball player who played Jesus, got angry, scored 10 unanswered points against Washington, and the director declared him the winner and ordered filming to stop.
- Hill Harper played a teenager in the film, although the actor was already 31 years old at the time.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
