CROSSOVER A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2006 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): 1/2
CROSSOVER covers the hot new game of street basketball. So what is the difference between this and what the NBA plays? Supposedly it's tougher with fewer penalties called and with more razzle-dazzle. What this explanation actually means and what street basketball looks like, I'm still not sure after watching the movie, which is ostensibly about the game. The movie contains very little playing of this game. And, when the kids, heavily encrusted with bling, play this "underground" game, we see it mainly in slow-mo, speed ups and freeze frame. As best I can tell, street basketball is exactly like the NBA version except the players are short -- one is even fat -- and wear more jewelry.
The sappy story centers on Jewelz (Philip Champion) and Tech (Anthony Mackie), two long-time best friends. Jewelz is planning on playing college ball before he becomes a doctor and tackles world hunger. Okay, so I made up that last part, but, in a film that never rings true, they might as well have added in that ambition, too. You would have never known the difference.
You get an early hint at how ridiculous the story will be when a cop car pulls over a pimped-out ride driven by Vaughn (Wayne Brady). After Vaughn rolls his window down, the cops hand him a big wad of cash and tell him to bet three Gs on Vaughn's team to win tonight's game. The so called underground game is so well lit and well attended that they might as well have had it at Madison Square Garden. As soon as the obligatory first game is quickly over, the movie switches to a couple of bad romances, with Jewelz and Tech paired up with two equally generic females. The film ends with one more game, which is just as brief and as just boring as the first match.
All of the acting is pure Amateursville. The script is full of such witty aphorisms as, "What happens on the court, stays on the court," and worse. The film simply doesn't work on any level. The only good thing I can say about it is that it is only 95 minutes long, but even 5 minutes of it is pretty unbearable. It is "Bad!" with a capital "B." Since it is by writer and director Preston A. Whitmore II, you're going to want to write that name down so you can avoid any of his future films.
CROSSOVER runs 1:35. It is rated PG-13 for "sexual content and some language" and would be acceptable for kids around 11 and up.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, September 1, 2006. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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