|
"Whose Gangsta' Is It
Anyway?" |
 |
Directed by Preston A.
Whitmore II - Written by
Preston A. Whitmore II
Starring Wesley
Jonathan, Anthony
Mackie, Wayne Brady, Eva
Pigford
Distributed by Sony -
2006 - 95mins - Rated
PG13 |
|
Richard Propes'
Review
|
 |
D |
|
| |
|
Play by your own rules. |
| |
Remember MC Hammer's
blink or you'll miss it "gangsta" phase? The one that produced the
laughably bad "Pumps and a Bump" or whatever that horrid little song
was called? A rapper who had previously rhymed about God's blessing
upon his music had suddenly sold out for an extra five minutes of
fame.
In "Crossover," we get Wayne Brady, the congenial funny man of "Whose
Line Is It Anyway?" and his own talk show, as a sort of dark overlord
of streetball. I'm picturing a cross between Rick Moranis and James
Earl Jones...in fact, remember that horrid 70's song "Basketball
Jones?" That's exactly what I'm picturing here, and the goofiness of
it fits perfectly this stylized mess of a film virtually devoid of
anything resembling substance.
Fortunately, "Crossover" doesn't center on Brady's character, but
instead focuses on two friends, Noah Cruise (Wesley Jonathan) and Tech
(Anthony Mackie). Actually, I should say this WOULD BE fortunate if we
could coax decent performances out of either Mackie or
Jonathan...unfortunately, their performances could almost out-wooden
legendary basketball coach John Wooden.
Now, that's wooden!
Noah, who avoids an assault charge when friend Tech takes the fall,
envisions medical school thanks to his basketball scholarship, while
Tech is happy with obtaining his GED and becoming an underground
streetball legend.
<YAWN>
What passes as a plot in "Crossover," is really just writer/director
Preston A. Whitmore II's attempt to make "Crossover" palatable to a
general audience. Faux moralizing statements about education and
empowerment ring hollow when surrounded by the shallow stylings of a
streetball world that offers sex, success, money and power.
Supporting performances by the likes of Eva Pigford (winner of
"America's Top Model," obviously NOT "America's Top Actress") and
Michael Bivens (Think "Bell, BIV, Devoe") are embarrassingly
uncomfortable.
"Crossover" might still work as a film if Whitmore could pull off the
excitement and electricity that is supposed to differentiate his
streetball from just plain ole' basketball. Unfortunately, Whitmore
("The Walking Dead") never quite captures the basics of basketball
staging or blocking and the resulting scenes create excitement akin to
that of our last Olympic men's basketball team.
"Crossover" isn't trying to be much, but still manages to disappoint.
It wasn't unreasonable to hope for a silly, shallow film with exciting
basketball, jammin' music and electricity in the air. While the film's
soundtrack doesn't disappoint, virtually every other aspect of
"Crossover" misses the mark.
"Crossover?" Hmmmm. It more closely resembles "Crossing Over" with
John Edward. Unfortunately, not even John Edward could find life in
"Crossover," a film destined for a quick cross over to DVD.
U CAN touch this, but really...why would you want to? |
| |
|
© Written by Richard Propes -
Email Me! |
|
How We Rated This Film
|
TC Candler -
|
|
|
| Richard Propes
- |
 |
D |
|
Jacob Hall
- |
|
|
|
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Jacob Hall's
Comment
n/a
|
