These times are not easy for basketball fans, as well as for all other sports fans. Almost all over the world, your favorite game is paused and you can watch basketball fights, only by viewing the records of past games, or in the form of various reviews, discounts and ratings on the World Wide Web.
But there is another area where the topic of basketball is not the last – it is cinema. A lot of films about various games were made around this game, and they were both successful and not very successful, based on real events and absolutely incredible plots. Today, Sport.ua offers its readers a selection of films about basketball in the comedy genre, hoping that watching them will help fans at least partially to “satisfy their hunger” for their favorite game. Especially since many of them starred in real basketball stars.
Let’s comment right away, the movie “Space Jam” with Michael Jordan in the main role that the author did not include in this list. Many basketball fans know about this movie and almost everyone has seen it, but some of the pictures from our list may not be familiar to our readers. so let’s go.
Eddie
Year: 1996
Budget: $30 million
Movie stars: Whoopi Goldberg, Dennis Farina
Basketball stars: Dennis Rodman, Maggie Boggs, Rick Fox, Greg Ostertag, Mark Jackson, Malik Seely, Vlad Divac, Gary Peyton, Mitch Richmond and many more.
Edwin Franklin, or simply Eddie, lives in New York and is a fervent fan of the New York Knicks, she suffers from all the team’s failures very close to her heart, and these failures are enough for the team. Heroine Whoopi Goldberg is not limited to watching matches, but she is more familiar with the game, training players in her area. Eddie is a limousine driver and her client one day becomes an eccentric millionaire who recently bought the club. A chance acquaintance with the owner of the club, a lively story about the problems in the team, Eddie’s spontaneity and a bit of temper (plus a dry business account for the club president who knows how to count money) led to Mrs. Franklin’s offer to become the new head coach of the New York Knicks, which Eddie agrees.
Problems in the team despite Dam Gatti, which is reflected in the status of the championship. One of the players thinks more about his divorce from his wife than about basketball, the other is selfish to the bone, and the third – does not shine with intellectual abilities. In general, everyone has their problems, and the main veteran of the team who appears calm and prudent is troubled by injuries. But Eddie is not just a dozen shy and gradually receives the keys to each player, makes a diverse team a real team, while raising many funny situations. And at the end of the film, the businessmen also alienate, and it appears that people’s love for the team and basketball is more valuable than money.
The movie starred a host of NBA stars. Many of them spent a few seconds on screen, but basketball players such as Greg Ostertag, Malik Seely and Rick Fox got a full chance to prove themselves in Hollywood, because their characters were New York Knicks players. A small bonus – the film starred in episodic roles, for a moment, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump, who played them.
“As the thunder struck her”
Year of manufacture: 2012
Budget: $7 million
Movie stars: James Belushi, Robert Belushi, starring Taylor Gray
Basketball Stars: Kevin Durant (Lots of Kevin Durant)
The average schoolboy Brian is not the most popular character in his school, but just a “loser”, which is reflected in the attitude of his peers (a kind of typical hero of American youth comedy). He is a fan of basketball, and because he lives in Oklahoma, he supports the local NBA team and dreams of being like its captain – Kevin Durant (only in 2012 Durant was the main star of the Oklahoma City Thunder club). But basketball player Brian himself is very modest and his role in the team is limited to picking up towels and other additional work.
Brian’s father takes his son to an NBA game, where the student gets a lucky ticket, and on a break goes to the center of the field to throw a large sum of money. As expected, Brian’s shot did not work, he almost hit the team’s spell (by the way, this is a very important moment). The protagonist leaves the podium for the laughter of the stands. Kevin Durant wanted to cheer the guy up, so he gave him the ball with his autograph and it started. Mysteriously, the two people exchange talents (more precisely, Durant completely without him). Brian immediately became the star of the school team and won the admiration and success of his peers. Durant’s agent, trying to understand his ward’s problems, finds this startling truth and reunites Brian and the NBA star. Then a difficult relationship arises between the characters and the whole trinity will look for a way out of this situation. It is complicated by the fact that there are crucial matches waiting for a place in the playoffs and the School Cup.
“sixth player”
Year: 1997
Budget: $11 million
Movie stars: Marlon Wayans, Kevin Dunn
Basketball stars: Yes, actually, no one
Brothers Antoine and Kenny play together in the University of Washington Huskies team, and the main star of the team is Antoine. Kevin also isn’t rear-facing, but he’s somewhat in his brother’s shadow. A terrible event takes place in a match. Antoine had a heart attack on site, and died on the way to the hospital. The team and especially his brother Kenny are depressed, defeats follow one by one and everyone is not ready for basketball now. But at some point, the ghost of the slain Antoine appears and helps win a tough battle, after which he reincarnates in front of his shocked younger brother. Kenny rejoiced again and with the help of Antoine’s ghost, the team won match after match, after which Kenny revealed to his partners the secret of their success. With such a “sixth player”, the team confidently qualifies for the finals, but soon everyone begins to feel conscientious and suspicious.
This is a comedy movie with a great dramatic component. In some moments, and even burst into tears (especially at the time of lifting the shirts under the arch of Antoine Stadium and in the final conversation of the two brothers). And the general choice of the team, which understands that victories with the help of invisible force are dishonest, makes you think about the values of sports and life in general.
Marlon Wayans perfectly performed the role of Kenny, perhaps the most talented in his acting family. During his career, Marlon became famous as a comedian, but in this film he showed other sides of his talent. Of the drawbacks of the picture – the choice of actors. Despite the fact that the photo shows a student basketball, many of the players in it look like experienced men in their thirties.
“like mike”
Year: 2002
Budget: $30 million
Movie stars: Eugene Levy, Maurice Chestnut, starring Shad Moss (better known as rapper Bow Wow)
Basketball stars: There will be enough stars at the level of the match
Orphan Calvin Cambridge lives in a boarding school and really wants a family, and although he does not have it, his main happiness in life – basketball. Only here has the fourteen-year-old Kelvin not grown up and the chances of becoming a serious player are as small as his size. But one day, humanitarian aid is brought to boarding school, where Kelvin finds sneakers with his initials “MJ”. Probably all basketball fans will immediately understand who these sneakers could have belonged before.
Wearing this shoe, Kelvin gets the talent of the first owner of these sneakers and brings his game to a great level. A series of happy coincidences follows, and the orphan is part of the NBA team. The appearance of a young player in the professional team promises a lot of funny situations, especially when Kelvin’s parents were entrusted with the emotional and slightly selfish main star of the club. Then there are the funny situations, the emergence of a true friendship between Kelvin and his guardian, the villain who wants easy money, and of course a key match for a place in the playoffs.
Since the movie was shot with the NBA, there’s a whole bunch of basketball stars out there. Allen Iverson, Dirk Nowitzki, David Robinson, Steve Francis, Michael Finley, Jason Kidd and others decorated the picture. However, they all got quite a bit of screen time. Vince Carter took in a little more, taking care of the main character in a major match.
“semi-professional”
Year of manufacture: 2008
Budget: $55 million
Movie stars: Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson
Basketball stars: Yes, in general, no one, but the pictures of the players were very bright
The most mysterious movie on our list. Jackie Moon is a sloppy eccentric who sang one song in his life, which became a hit and saved him enough money to live on. In parallel, he is the owner, player and head coach of the “Flint Tropics” team (let’s just say, the team is fictional) – the worst team in the ABA (American Basketball Association). In the yard 1976. The NBA is about to absorb the ABA. According to the agreement between the leagues, only the top four teams from the ABA will be included in the NBA, which will have a decent presence. In order to reach the top four, Jackie Moon boosted the squad with the Boston Celtics player, who was replaced by…a washer. While the new player is trying to instill at least a little ordinary gameplay into Tropics, Jackie Moon himself, without missing a single exercise, manages to deal with the problem of attendance, and comes up with more and more crazy ideas.
The movie is full of different jokes, but let’s face it, many of them are below their belt. The picture contains an unusual mixture of frank humor and a story about sporting achievements and overcoming difficulties. However, according to the designers of the picture, this brilliant team had to invent an upper alley. And certainly not the last actor in the movie is Dewey Bear.
***
Of course, all fans of basketball and cinema have different tastes. Some people will love these pictures and some will consider them not worth the attention. But we hope with their help our readers will fill in the shortage of basketball these days.
Alexey College
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