Released 1998
Stars Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, Rosario Dawson, Milla Jovovich
Directed by Spike Lee

"He Got Game" is ambitious in that it tells not one story, but two. In addition to exploring the fractured relationship between a father and son, Lee examines the ins-and-outs of the recruiting process, whereby under-the-table cash handouts and covert offers have become run-of-the-mill. In the world of "amateur" sports, the role of the actual game has been diminished; it's all about greed and pressure. The focus in "He Got Game" is on what transpires behind-the-scenes, not in front of the television cameras.

The story opens with Jake Shuttleworth (Denzel Washington) serving a lengthy sentence in Attica for killing his wife. Meanwhile, on the outside, his son, Jesus (Ray Allen), has become the top- rated high school basketball player in the country, and is being recruited by every major college. The warden of Attica comes to Jake with a deal: convince Jesus to go to the governor's alma mater, Big State, and Jake's sentence will be reduced or commuted. To allow Jake to make contact with his son, he is given one week of freedom. There's a problem, though -- Jesus doesn't want to have anything to do with his father, and Jake's increasingly desperate attempts at a reconciliation run into a brick wall.

Summary by James Berardinelli