2001 | 95 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
Weeknight WatchWhy it’s a Weeknight Watch
With a lukewarm 50% audience score and soft box office, it's a mixed bag. Fine if it's on; don't plan your night around it.
Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.Is it for you?
- Who'll love it
- If you count yourself among anyone who remembers how big everything felt at sixteen and people who get choked up at a comeback, this one's for you. It gets the awkwardness and the high stakes of being young. The sport matters, but the people playing it matter more.
- The mood
- Tense, warm and romantic.
- The pace
- Gives its people room to develop, at 1 hr 35 min.
- What might put you off
- Rated R: expect drug use.
- Not the one if you want explosions or easy laughs.
Even though he's the only black student at the elite Palmetto Grove Academy, star basketball player Odin James has the adoration of all, including the team's coach and the Dean's beautiful daughter Desi. Odin's troubled friend Hugo, the coach's son, deeply resentful of his father's preference of Odin on and off the court, plots a diabolical scheme to sow the seed of mistrust between O and Desi, setting in motion a disturbing chain of events which erupts into a firestorm of breathtaking intensity.
How it earned its rating
- CriticsSolid
64% on Rotten Tomatoes, 53 on Metacritic
- AudiencesBelow par
Our audience score: 50%
- AwardsNot counted
No major awards or nominations
- Box office & staying powerBelow par
$19 million worldwide; still draws a steady audience long after release
- Buzz & cultural impactSolid
About 107K people sought it out in the past year
Trailer
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Cast & crew
Directed by Tim Blake Nelson
- Mekhi PhiferOdin James
- Martin SheenCoach Duke Goulding
- Josh HartnettHugo Goulding
- Andrew KeeganMichael Cassio
- Julia StilesDesi Brable
- Rain PhoenixEmily
- Chris FreihoferAssistant Coach
- Elden HensonRoger Calhoun
- John HeardDean Brable
- Anthony JohnsonDell