White Men Can't Jump

Twentieth Century Fox | Release Date: March 27, 1992

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

65	METASCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Stephen Hunter

The basketball sequences are the most magical in the film -- both Harrelson and Snipes can play -- but more to the point, he also has a great gift for evoking the needling hostility of athletes, the way the games aren't just about talent but about ego, will, self-esteem. Read full review

Jay Carr

White Men Can't Jump isn't perfect. But most of the time it's a lot of fun. Its funky moves are going to put more smiles on more faces than any regular season or tournament basketball TV throws at you. [27 Mar 1992, p.25]

Roger Ebert

Here is a comedy of great high spirits, with an undercurrent of sadness and sweetness that makes it a lot better than the plot itself could possibly suggest. Read full review

Gene Siskel

A fresh and exuberant romantic comedy that is as smart about playground basketball as Bull Durham was about minor league baseball. Read full review

Dave Kehr

It's a funny, frequently rousing film, with a warmly appealing acting partnership at its center-between basketball hustlers Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. Read full review

David Sterritt

The movie doesn't add up to very much, though. It's breezy, likable, forgettable. Read full review

EmpireBob McCabe

It’s overly long and the Rosie Perez sub-plot leads it astray, but mostly, it rocks. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Perhaps the first sports movie ever made in which the characters talked as good a game as they played. Read full review

Kenneth Turan

Graced with good-humored comic energy, they overcome sizable script problems and turn Ron Shelton's White Men Can't Jump into a sassy and profane urban fairy tale that finds laughs in some very clever places. Read full review

David Ansen

Shelton's strength is character, streetwise wit and funky, lived-in sexuality. Snipes, one of our most versatile young actors, gets to demonstrate his wonderful comic chops, and Harrelson, whose goofiness is part of his scam, partners him beautifully. Read full review

Jay Boyar

White Men Can't Jump isn't a terrific movie, but it's the best showcase Snipes has had so far to demonstrate how hip he can be. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

As in his previous film, the game action is secondary to the zany characters, and there certainly are a lot of them. In fact, they bring such charm that White Men Can't Jump, a truly dumb movie, is a very funny movie. [27 Mar 1992, p.3F]

Delores Barclay

Shelton takes us right to the street hoops and slam dunks a winner. The movie is funny, it's fast and it's funky. [26 Mar 1992]

Duane Byrge

Smartly spreading his story beyond the end lines of the basketball court, writer-director Shelton has knocked down a sparkling, slice-of-life Americana story. As rough and shiny as chain nets on a sweltering summer day, White Men Can't Jump is a poetic, rag-tag triumph. Read full review

Janet Maslin

The terrifically confident Mr. Snipes gives a funny, knowing performance with a lot of physical verve. And Mr. Harrelson (of Cheers) further perfects the art of appearing utterly without guile. Their comic timing together shapes the film's raucous wit, and their basketball playing looks creditable, too. Read full review

John Hartl

At its best, White Men Can't Jump gives two talented actresses a chance to shine. At worst, it's just somewhat less coherent and compelling than Shelton's previous work. [27 Mar 1992, p.19]

100

Staff (Not Credited)

Snipes and Harrelson bounce off the screen like Michael Jordan, while Shelton and cinematographer Russell Boyd perfectly capture the agile thrills of the game itself. A double-whammy slam-dunker of a movie. Read full review

Mike Clark

Knowing and original, Men's comedy never quite soars. Yet jump it does, and high enough. [27 Mar 1992, p.1D]

Hal Hinson

[Shelton's] direction here is fluid and energetic; he's got the juice for the straightaways, and the control for tight corners too. But it's the inspired jabber that fuels the film. Read full review

Desson Thomson

For the most part, it's a provocative one-on-one between racial opposites Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. Their relationship -- or perhaps, their ongoing collision -- is the best part of the movie. Read full review