White Men Can't Jump could have been very good, but it was instead only very average. The story centres on a highly talented white basketball player (Woody Harrelson) who hustles a cocksure black guy (Wesley Snipes) on his own court. The two then team up and hustle the local courts, raking in some big dollars. There is plenty of wisecracking, but the "your mama" jokes wear a bit thin. One of the film's biggest irritations is Harrelson's on-screen girlfriend: she moans endlessly in a very, very nauseating high-pitched whine, at one point bitching that Harrelson has brought her a glass of water when she complains of thirst. She is truly one of THE most annoying female characters ever to appear in cinema and ruins the film beyond redemption. There is a side-plot in which Harrelson has to clear some debts to two gangsters, but they are "off-the-shelf" lifeless caricatures. The film concludes with Harrelson having lost his girl (a blessing, to be honest) and asking Snipes for a job. Not quite the action-packed conclusion you might have expected. A shame, because Harrelson and Snipes have both appeared in some excellent films. White Men Can't Jump wasn't one of them...
Review of White Men Can't Jump
