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Arts and Entertainment Guide for CSU, Fresno
April3y1992
VoLV,l*suo5
\
-
Running fast and funny- Woody Harreteon and Wesley Snipes run fast and loose in "White Men Carrt Jump."
'White Men' can jump-on the silver screen
By Doug McLeod
Artspeak Staff
White Men Can't Jump....what a
true-to-life statement. .
Ifs also the name of a spllick-
ingly funny movie about ritual
combat street thea ter, and floating
con-games, all of which take place on
the inner-city public basketball
courts of Los Angeles.
The story centers on two hoop-
playing hustlers, Sidney- Deane
(Wesley Snipes) and Billy Hoyle
(Woody HaxrelsonXand begins when
Billy appears at the public courts at .
Venice Beach looking for a game.
Sidney, me/Tdng^of the Venice
cotim, sees Bffly only as art mexrx?ri-
enced newcomer when one of
Skme/j players hurts his bunions
and Billy is the only available player
to replace him.
However, the baggy shorts, and
goofy personality of Billy is a fraud,
and Billy plays it out to perfection,
scamming Sidney royally.
Sidney, a quick learner, then
proposes mat he and Billy should
pa rtner to con every public court
player in town.
What follows is a look at the
courts of the Watts and Crenshaw
areas of Los Angeles in perhaps the
funniest way they have ever been
seen.
Both Sidney and Billy play for
reasons other than the love of the
game
Billy, a former star at a Southern
college, is trying to pay off two thugs
who are chasing him and his in-tow
girlfriewLQoria(Rosiererez),for
stiffing them in a collegiate game that
Billy was supposed to throw.
Sidney is trying to raise enough
money so he and his wife Rhonda
(Tyra Ferreil) can move their child
out of their Crenshaw-area apart¬
ment and into a house.
Both Sidney and Billy want so
badly to take care of themselves that
they aren't above scamming each
other. 0
The movie snakes ifs way
through several funny sequences.
The first, at the aforementioned
Venice Beach Courts, sees the players
doing more of the dozens (mother
jokes) than playing bas ketba 11.
Another features a very funny
sequence in which an intirnidating
street piayer named Raymond
(former Los Angeles Clipper and
five-time All Star Marques Johnson),
agrees to play a high-stakes game
with Billy and Sidney. Raymond,
however, is a little short of money,
but his resolution to the problem is
indeed unique.
"White Men Can't Jump",
written and directed by Ron Shelton
(Bull Durham, Blaze), is for the most
part believable; the basketball ,
sequences are the best.
Where the movie sometimes
falls short is off the court. The
relationship between Billy and Gloria
is not really that realistic; Bilry blows
it with Gloria once too often and she
always takes him back, sans a
surprise at the end of the move, but
I'm really nitpicking.
Please see, WHITE MEN, page 3
/
■
Object Description
| Title | 1992_04 The Daily Collegian April 1992 |
| Alternative Title | Daily Collegian (California State University, Fresno) |
| Publisher | Associated Students of Fresno State, Fresno, Calif. |
| Publication Date | 1992 |
| Description | Daily (except weedends) during the school year. Microfilm. Palo Alto, Calif.: BMI Library Microfilms, 1986- microfilm reels; 35 mm. Vol.1, no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- |
| Subject | California State University, Fresno -- Periodicals. |
| Contributors | Associated Students of Fresno State. |
| Coverage | Vol.1 no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- to present |
| Format | Microfilm reels, 35 mm. |
| Technical Information | Scanned at 600 dpi; TIFF; Microfilm ScanPro 2000 "E-image data" |
| Language | eng |
Description
| Title | April 3, 1992, Artspeak Page 1 |
| Alternative Title | Daily Collegian (California State University, Fresno) |
| Publisher | Associated Students of Fresno State, Fresno, Calif. |
| Publication Date | 1992 |
| Description | Daily (except weedends) during the school year. Microfilm. Palo Alto, Calif.: BMI Library Microfilms, 1986- microfilm reels; 35 mm. Vol.1, no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- |
| Subject | California State University, Fresno -- Periodicals. |
| Contributors | Associated Students of Fresno State. |
| Coverage | Vol.1 no.1 (Feb 8, 1922)- to present |
| Format | Microfilm reels, 35 mm. |
| Technical Information | Scanned at 600 dpi; TIFF; Microfilm ScanPro 2000 "E-image data" |
| Language | eng |
| Full-Text-Search | Arts and Entertainment Guide for CSU, Fresno April3y1992 VoLV,l*suo5 \ - Running fast and funny- Woody Harreteon and Wesley Snipes run fast and loose in "White Men Carrt Jump." 'White Men' can jump-on the silver screen By Doug McLeod Artspeak Staff White Men Can't Jump....what a true-to-life statement. . Ifs also the name of a spllick- ingly funny movie about ritual combat street thea ter, and floating con-games, all of which take place on the inner-city public basketball courts of Los Angeles. The story centers on two hoop- playing hustlers, Sidney- Deane (Wesley Snipes) and Billy Hoyle (Woody HaxrelsonXand begins when Billy appears at the public courts at . Venice Beach looking for a game. Sidney, me/Tdng^of the Venice cotim, sees Bffly only as art mexrx?ri- enced newcomer when one of Skme/j players hurts his bunions and Billy is the only available player to replace him. However, the baggy shorts, and goofy personality of Billy is a fraud, and Billy plays it out to perfection, scamming Sidney royally. Sidney, a quick learner, then proposes mat he and Billy should pa rtner to con every public court player in town. What follows is a look at the courts of the Watts and Crenshaw areas of Los Angeles in perhaps the funniest way they have ever been seen. Both Sidney and Billy play for reasons other than the love of the game Billy, a former star at a Southern college, is trying to pay off two thugs who are chasing him and his in-tow girlfriewLQoria(Rosiererez),for stiffing them in a collegiate game that Billy was supposed to throw. Sidney is trying to raise enough money so he and his wife Rhonda (Tyra Ferreil) can move their child out of their Crenshaw-area apart¬ ment and into a house. Both Sidney and Billy want so badly to take care of themselves that they aren't above scamming each other. 0 The movie snakes ifs way through several funny sequences. The first, at the aforementioned Venice Beach Courts, sees the players doing more of the dozens (mother jokes) than playing bas ketba 11. Another features a very funny sequence in which an intirnidating street piayer named Raymond (former Los Angeles Clipper and five-time All Star Marques Johnson), agrees to play a high-stakes game with Billy and Sidney. Raymond, however, is a little short of money, but his resolution to the problem is indeed unique. "White Men Can't Jump", written and directed by Ron Shelton (Bull Durham, Blaze), is for the most part believable; the basketball , sequences are the best. Where the movie sometimes falls short is off the court. The relationship between Billy and Gloria is not really that realistic; Bilry blows it with Gloria once too often and she always takes him back, sans a surprise at the end of the move, but I'm really nitpicking. Please see, WHITE MEN, page 3 / ■ |
