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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready....
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Since 1996 |
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready....
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Streetballers Stars: Matt Krentz, Jimmy McKinney, Patrick Rooney and Adrieanne Perez Director/Scriptwriter: Matt Krentz Composer: Daniel Godsil MSK Films Rating: No rating but could be R for language and violence Running Length: 117 minutes Streetballers, filmed in St. Louis, Mo, is a term applied to kids who play basketball in the streets. The game is rougher and betting is allowed. Matt Krentz is the writer, star and director of this movie. Doing three things in a film is one thing too many. “Streetballers” has many story lines within it and could have made a television mini-series instead of a movie. The characters are interesting and you don’t want to leave them, but the director bids you go further and further, looking for a payoff, which isn’t there. Some actors recite their lines, while others act. The story begins with a car/pedestrian accident in which a young boy is killed. The driver is Mike (Patrick Rooney), who was drunk, serves almost five years in prison and comes home, still on alcohol. Another son in the family is proud-of-his-Irish-heritage John (Krentz), who wants to play basketball professionally, but is told he is too slow on the court. The third child is a younger sister and their parent is a single Mom, who had three husbands. John teams up with Jacob (Jimmy McKinney the bright spot in the film), who plays basketball well, but doesn’t do so good in jr. college classes. They trade off---Jacob coaches John on the court and John helps Jacob with homework. That is John’s introduction to street basketball and the guys behind it. This is where the film comes alive as we go into the world of street gangs who “own” basketball teams and bet on them. The language is raw and violence an inch away, but the actors do it well. It is when the film goes back to the white families that the story sags. Oh, yes, and John ends up with a girlfriend (Adrieanne Perez) who is wise beyond her years and shoots at guys with a BB gun. The teacher in Jacob’s college class is sarcastic, witty and interesting. I wanted more of him, but it wasn't there. If that weren’t enough, John sees and talks to ghosts (sound familiar?) who live an interesting world on the other side. They need advice from us! If the name of the film is about basketball, then have more basketball on the screen. By the time the audience is on the court with a game, the director is losing them. We don’t need quotations on the screen between scenes. There is a gun fired in a house, then we don’t know why, and Matt Krentz should have cast someone else in the pivotal role of John. He spreads himself too thin. On the other hand, the night shots of the basketball court are great and one can get into the ambiance of the city there. Soundtrack is riveting and certainly adds to specific scenes such as a gang clubhouse. All in all, Streetballers is an example of less is more. Copyright 2009 Marie Asner 
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