Billy and Sydney think they're the best basketball hustlers in town, so when they join forces, nothing can stop them, except each other. To add to their problems, Billy owes money and is being chased by a pair of gangster types.
AMAZON.COM REVIEWS FOR WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP (1992): Writer-director Ron Shelton's 1992follow-up to the baseball comedy-drama Bull Durham involves adifferent sport: basketball, as played on the neighborhood hustlercircuit. Woody Harrelson is Billy Hoyle, a good shooter using hiswhite complexion to fool black players into thinking he can be stompedin easy bets. Billy's banter-filled matchup against Sidney Deane(Wesley Snipes) on a public court leads to a partnership in whichSidney becomes Billy's manager, taking the white outsider on a tour ofthe tougher sections of Los Angeles, where he plays homeboys for a fewbucks. Inevitably, the two come apart over their innatecompetitiveness, a situation that has to be reevaluated after Billygets into trouble with some underworld creditors.Meanwhile, Billy'sgirlfriend (Rosie Perez) sits at home preparing herself for amaybe-someday date appearance on Jeopardy. As with all ofShelton's sports-related movies (Tin Cup, his script for TheBest of Times), White Men Can't Jump is less about the finepoints of the game than it is the rules by which players surviveit. The script is literate and crackling with wit and satire (a scenein which a politician sponsors a black-white "solidarity" game ishilarious). The actors are entirely in sync, and the scenesunder and around the hoops are a thrill to watch. --Tom Keogh
:
- MTV Movie Awards
1993
Nominated
MTV Movie Award
Best Kiss
Woody Harrelson
Wesley Snipes
Best On-Screen Duo
Woody Harrelson
Wesley Snipes
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