Genre Research: White Men Can't Jump

What elements of the genre that you chose to base your final task on does this movie have? 

 The movie, despite having some comedy within it, has serious undertones. The topics within the movie are a few of the typical topics that are tackled within drama films: financial instability, addiction, and racial politics. The movie has many funny one liners and comedic scenes, but you cannot avoid the fact that Sidney's family is struggling financially and he does not have the funds to move them to a safer part of Los Angeles, and Billy is in some severe debt to mobsters and also has a gambling addiction. The two, seemingly very different characters, use basketball as a common ground to build a friendship and create a financial foundation that they have not had for a while. The film shows that there will always be a point at which two people can cooperate regardless of how different their backgrounds are. The film also utilizes some of the typical camera shots and angles of drama movies such as the close-up, long shot, and low/high angles. However, being that the film is also a sport movie, it also includes some camera movements and shots such as the pan and the two-shot in order to capture the action in the basketball scenes. The dramatic elements of the movie were mainly present in the plot; the movie was not shot in a purely dramatic style.

What elements of the genre did the movie have that you like?

Dramas tend to focus on individual acting performances heavily and this movie's acting is superb. Rosie Perez's steals the show with her portrayal of the headstrong Gloria. The movie is also not over saturated with dramatic situations. There are times where the film lacks drama, however it does do well not to force dramatic effects in situations where there does not have to be much. Billy and Sidney's financial situations are not directly tackled at all times in the movie. The reader knows what each character has in store for them when they leave the basketball court, but the movie lets these obstacles make their way to the characters organically.

What elements of the genre did the movie have that did not appeal to you? 

While the film's balance between sport and drama was great, it sometimes failed to properly balance its comedic and dramatic aspects. The dramatic aspects of the film tended to lose their seriousness due to the interjection of some comedic element. For example, Billy and Gloria's escape from the mobsters chasing after them lacked the sense of true danger and seriousness that it should have had. Gloria's appearance on Jeopardy also was very whimsical and played to to the comedic side of the movie being that it was a somewhat random event.