Desertman84
Above the Rim tells a story of a promising basketball player in high school who is torn between his relationships that could ultimately affect his decision in the future especially when there is a great possibility of slipping into crime.It stars Duane Martin,Leon Robinson,Tupac Shakur,Bernie Mac,Tonya Pinkins,David Bailey and Marlon Wayans.The screenplay was written and directed by Jeff Pollack with Barry Michael Cooper and Benny Medina acting as co- writers.Kyle Watson is a talented basketball player who is about to graduate from high school. While waiting for the decision of whether Georgetown University will provide him a full scholarship or not,he gets into difficult dilemma in a playground basketball tournament.He is conflicted by a decision as to whether play or not for his beloved coach Birdie,who happens to have great influence on his life and is known as a thug in the neighborhood who is pressuring him to join his gang.Also,he gets into deep resentment towards Thomas "Shep" Shepherd,a failed star basketball player as he ended up as a security guard at a high school where Kyle is studying.As the movie progresses,we learn not only of Kyle but also about the characters that surround him.While the story can be considered both formulaic and melodramatic,it would definitely be a threat for basketball fans as it contains a lot of great basketball action scenes.Also,the characters in the story are considered compelling and interesting enough as the cast were able to provide great performances that provides depth to them that somehow overcomes average script.Special mention should be given to the late Tupac Shakur,who definitely is a wonderful actor.And who can forget the soundtrack especially those whoa re fan of rap music?Overall,it is one of the 90's movies that one would surely enjoy at present while this review is being written.
gangstahippie
Rated R for Language and Some Violence Above The Rim is one of the few films rapper Tupac Shakur was featured in.This is the second film of his that I have seen, the other being Juice which was also a great film.Not many rappers are good actors(look at 50 Cent in Get Rich Or Die Trying, even though I liked the film, 50 Cent wasn't a very good actor).But Tupac is a great actor in both films and probably in all the other films he was featured in.Above The Rim is a basketball film about a young promising basketball star who meets this security guard who used to be an all star on the team he was in.The man's brother(Tupac) is a drug dealer.The film basically shows his relationship with the two and how the security guard is dating his mother.Because of this and other reasons, he dislikes him at first but then starts liking him.The film also stars Marlon Wayans who provides the comic relief in this film and Bernie Mac as a bum who knew the security guard.Above The Rim has good performances and is overall a good film.I would say just as good as "Juice".
Dan P
Kind of low ratings, this movie should never be rated, even by hater below 6. I think is around 8 or 9 though. Is a street movie, integrated with the hoop dreams of high-school phenom. The story line is dope, has some real entertaining characters. Am not going to write out the whole plot, watch the movie.Probably one of my favorite sport movies, with Any Given Sunday. You get some real elements. Kyle Watson the high-school phenom, gets caught up by the elements of streets. Pac, in the movie plays the main bad guy in the movie Birdie, a very manipulative character, with a very dark side, dude slashes a bum to death with a razor from this tongue, played by Bernie Mac, for talking smack about him. LOL. Anyhow everything collides when Kyle decides not to play along Birdie in the tournament, and things get hectic. The hoops in the movie is raw, some real ballers, not some white men old man that can't even ball, and disgraces the game of basketball. Hoop fans would love it, people that love street movies will love it. Very entertaining characters to add.
bubsy-3
I bought the DVD of Above the Rim at my local Video Store when they were having a going out of business sale. I primarily bought it to see Tupac's acting since I've been a fan of his music. I watched this movie while working out on the treadmill, and it's great for that.Tupac's performance wasn't quite up to what I expected, I'm sorry to say. Perhaps I would have felt differently if I had seen the movie at the time of its original release, or at least before seeing the wonderful Tupac Resurrection. But the other actors are fine and somewhere in this basketball picture is a subplot that "has a heart". It's several steps above your typical "teenage hood" movie, and a solid 7. I also appreciated the DVD's "English Subtitiles". I wish that they could be made standard. (You appreciate it when you want to workout at midnight and watch a DVD when others want to sleep!)
AD
