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He Got Game

He Got Game

Drama · 1998

A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter prison sentence.

Movie details

He Got Game

“The father, the son and the holy game.”

1998 Drama 2h 16m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.9 / 10

53.3K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

82 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

64 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter prison sentence.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over He Got Game?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Starred Up

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19-year-old Eric, arrogant and ultra-violent, is prematurely transferred to the same adult prison facility as his estranged father. As his explosive temper quickly finds him enemies in both prison authorities and fellow inmates — and his already volatile relationship with his father is pushed past breaking point — Eric is approached by a volunteer psychotherapist, who runs an anger management group for prisoners. Torn between gang politics, prison corruption, and a glimmer of something better, Eric finds himself in a fight for his own life, unsure if his own father is there to protect him or join in punishing him.

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Ordinary People

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Drama · 1980

Beth, Calvin, and their son Conrad are living in the aftermath of the death of the other son. Conrad is overcome by grief and misplaced guilt to the extent of a suicide attempt. He is in therapy. Beth had always preferred his brother and is having difficulty being supportive to Conrad. Calvin is trapped between the two trying to hold the family together.

Palmer

Palmer

Drama · 2021

After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer returns home to put his life back together—and forms an unlikely bond with Sam, an outcast boy from a troubled home. But Eddie's past threatens to ruin his new life and family.

Beautiful Boy

Beautiful Boy

Drama · 2011

A married couple on the verge of separation are leveled by the news their 18-year-old son committed a mass-shooting at his college, then took his own life.

American History X

American History X

Drama · 1998

Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two African-American men. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.

The Color Purple

The Color Purple

Drama · 1985

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A Thousand and One

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Drama · 2023

Struggling but unapologetically living on her own terms, Inez is moving from shelter to shelter in mid-1990s New York City. With her 6-year-old son Terry in foster care and unable to leave him again, she kidnaps him so they can build their life together. As the years go by, their family grows and Terry becomes a smart yet quiet teenager, but the secret that has defined their lives threatens to destroy the home they have so improbably built.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Spike Lee

Written by

Spike Lee

Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington

Jake Shuttlesworth

Ray Allen

Ray Allen

Jesus Shuttlesworth

Rosario Dawson

Rosario Dawson

Lala Bonilla

Milla Jovovich

Milla Jovovich

Dakota Burns

Hill Harper

Hill Harper

Coleman "Booger" Sykes

Ned Beatty

Ned Beatty

Warden Wyatt

Jim Brown

Jim Brown

Spivey

Court is in session

Put He Got Game on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.