White Men Can’t Jump is a 1992 sports comedy directed by Ron Shelton who also wrote the screenply with the film being produced by David V. Lester, Don Miller and Michelle Rappaport. It stars Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson and Rosie Perez.
The storyline follows Billy Hoyle is a former college basketball player who makes his living by hustling streetballers who assume he cannot play well because he is white. Sidney Deane, is a talented but cocky player who is beaten twice by Billy, once in a half court team game and later in a one-on-one shootout for money. They both believe 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 and his Puerto Rican live-in girlfriend, Gloria Clemente, are on the run from mobsters because of a gambling debt.
Former Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and NBA Hall of Famer, Robert Jerry Lanier Jr known as Bob Lanier, was hired as basketball coach for the film. Woody Harrelson, who had played some basketball in college, was bragging to Lanier about how great a player he was. Lanier invited Harrelson to play a little one-on-one with Harrelson later describing it as “the most embarrassing fifteen minutes of my life”. Lanier did note that out of Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, Woody Harrelson was actually the better player.
When White Men Can’t Jump was released it received positive reviews from the critics and audiences alike. On Rotten Tomatoes it currently holds a rating of 88% with the general consensus being, “White Men Can’t Jump provides a fresh take on the sports comedy genre, with a clever script and a charismatic trio of leads”. Roger Ebert praised the film, giving it three and a half stars, saying it was “not simply a basketball movie”, praising Ron Shelton for “knowing his characters”. The film was a favorite of director Stanley Kubrick.
Commercially, White Men Can’t Jump was quite successful. It was made on an estimated production budget of $31 million and acheived $14,711,124 in box office receipts during its opening weekend. White Men Can’t Jump went on to make $76,253,806 at the US box office and $14,500,000 Internationally, achieving total worldwide box office receipts of $90,753,806 making it the 16th highest-grossing movie of 1992. In January 2017, it was announced that Kenya Barris was developing a White Men Can’t Jump remake with NBA star Blake Griffin and NFL player Ryan Kalil producing.
Film Details
Title
White Men Can’t Jump
Year of Film
1992
Director
Ron Shelton
Starring
Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Rosie Perez
Origin of Film
USA
Genre(s) of Film
Comedy | Drama | Sport
Release Date
27 March 1992 (USA)
Box Office
Budget: $31,000,000
Opening Weekend: $14,700,000 (USA)
Gross: $90,753,806 (Worldwide)
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