White Men Can't Jump (1992): If this movie, written and directed by sports-film guru Ron Shelton, consisted entirely of basketball scenes, it would rate a perfect 10. The story of con men Billy (Woody Harrelson) and Sidney (Wesley Snipes) teaming up to hustle opponents on the court is only a small part of a convoluted script, which is merely a mess of unimportant subplots rather than one solid storyline. For instance, two Italian heavies pursue Billy and his bitchy girlfriend Gloria (Rosie Perez in an ear-torturing performance) over gambling debts throughout the entire picture. She later dumps Billy after he loses $2,500, and everything slows to a crawl as he embarks on a quest to get her back. Plus, she is busy trying to get on Jeopardy, because Lord knows Alex Trebek can never get enough publicity. Little things like that serve to build up an anticlimactic conclusion. It doesn't help either that the characters badly lack development and are given such flat dialogue. Billy is so annoying that it's hard to believe people like Sidney and the equally irritating Gloria would actually befriend him in the first place. Despite the film's title, the subject of racism never comes to the fore through the jumbled plot; the act of swindling opponents who believe the white guy can't play is scarcely a serious anti-racist message. Plenty of plot holes as well: A gun Gloria points at Sidney at the beginning is never seen again, and she's also an alcoholic, but that's conveniently forgotten as the movie progresses. Many ballers (like myself) will enjoy the great court action and the humorous trash talk, which is the film's only saving grace. Look for former NBA stars Marques Johnson and Freeman Williams as two of Billy and Sidney's opponents, and the late Los Angeles Times sportswriter Allan Malamud as a Jeopardy contestant. While the aforementioned basketball spectacles are a slam dunk, it's unfortunate that the rest of "White Men" throws up an airball. 6/10