"Ghettoes are same all over the world", says Williams, black martial arts expert in Enter the Dragon. The author of this review has been reminded of those words while watching FR Yugoslavia winning World Basketball Championship. That country was ravaged by lost wars and NATO bombing, impoverished by particularly nasty form of post-Communist transition and struck by skyrocketing rates of crime, violence, substance abuse and other forms of social pathology. There are some who could find similarities between the sad state of affairs in that Balkan country and American inner-city ghettos, especially considering that those circumstances seem to be fertile ground for basketball talents. This relation between success in professional sports and harsh living conditions is explored in Above the Rim, 1994 drama directed by Jeff Pollack.
Protagonist of the film is Kyle-Lee (played by Duane Martin), black high school student who dreams of getting out of ghetto. He has talent for basketball and that provides him with two alternatives. On one hand is a vague promise of Georgetown scholarship and college education. Another is provided by Kyle's best friend Bugaloo (played by Marlon Wayns) who gets him in touch with powerful local drug lord Birdie (played by Tupac Shakur). Birdie maintains the authority over the neighbourhood by sponsoring teams in street basketball tournaments and he wants Kyle to become one of his players. Wooed by the promise of quick fame and fortune, Kyle is still undecided where to go until he befriends Shep (played by Leon), quiet security guard at his school. Shep once used to be promising basketball player and he quickly becomes Kyle's father figure, trying to get him to right path.
The story, characters and their dilemmas of Above the Rim aren't particularly original, yet co-writer and director Pollack manages to make them compelling. This is mostly achieved through good direction and clever use of real life basketball players and authentic Harlem locations. Realism is also achieved by Pollack not succumbing to sensationalism; this film has its share of drug use, violence and other social ills, but they are shown only as a backdrop of a story that deals with normal and generally healthy individuals. On the other hand, this realism is compromised with the unnecessary melodrama concerning Shep's character. The actors are very good, though. Late Tupac Shakur is best known of them all, and cynics would say that his realistic portrayal of a villain was easy to explain, considering Shakur's real life reputation. Leon, who plays his rival in the film is also very good in less charismatic but more important role. In any case, somewhat lighter and more cerebral approach towards some darker aspects of American life is the reason why Above the Rim should be recommended viewing to all those who want entertainment laced with real life.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on September 19th 2002)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/19092-above-the-rim?language=en-US
Critic: AA
