Here is a charmless remake that has the same ideas and characters as the original, but none of the energy. Director Calmatic's idea of a sports film is to put a rap soundtrack on and show us poorly shot and edited basketball scenes that are tedious to follow and care.

There are lots of rambling in this movie. This is not neccessarily a complaint. There are lots and lots of trashtalk in the original White Men Can't Jump too, except those are brought with wit and delivered by actors that know how to act intimidating and over-confident. The actors here are as flat as a cardboard. Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrellson are way out of Sinqua Walls and Jack Harlow's league.

So the story involves Harlow and Walls teaming up to play basketball. That's about it for the movie's depth in storytelling. The screenplay here has barely any emotional engagement. In the climax of the movie, in what was supposedly the high point of the movie, I felt nothing. Any other viewer will not feel anything. Not even our characters look like they felt anything. It's all a lazy string of basketball montages and dialogue so monotonous and uninteresting that it plays like a conversation you are stuck in and want to get out of.

This is a movie that thinks it has really cool vibe but is just a slog. Calmatic's previous film is House Party, another remake of a (somewhat) classic. Maybe it is time for him to work with material that are at least original. Maybe remakes like this shouldn't exist for the best.

I don't know why anyone thought this was a good idea because the original White Men Can't Jump is great with two characters played by two actors that are almost impossible to replicate. The chemistry between Walls and Harlow is cheesy at best. Wesley Snipes who apparently is not a good basketball player and they ran most of his basketball scenes in show motion especially that spin move that would never work against anyone still looks better than anything they were doing in this with people that are not bad ball players from what I've been told. Then there is Woody. Woody and Snipes were perfect and terrible together, but in a believable way. You could see them being life long best friends even after all the awful things they did to each other afterwards. I felt like I just reviewed the original against the new one. I did and that's the very reason why this isn't going to be popular at all. The original is a time capsule of sorts and beloved by most everyone. If you haven't or seen the original watch it. Skip this. If you have hulu give this one a go I guess, but do not spend money on this.

Even though this movie doesn't touch the original, it was enjoyable to watch. The nostalgia alone carries it pretty far, but I really enjoyed the chemistry of the cast and felt that Harlow was a great fit. I mean, let's be honest- no one is going to stack up to Harrelson or snipes in the original roles. So as long as you temper your expectations and realize this is a remake and it's a feel good movie about basketball. Less plot, more of a story about basketball and friendship.

The soundtrack is fantastic, the cinematography is equally as enjoyable... it drags here and there but it's worth a watch if you loved the original or basketball.