‘White Men Can’t Jump’ Review: Jack Harlow’s Acting Debut Is a Shaggy Underdog Cliche

thewrap.com:

Jack Harlow this month, well, he’s officially in the industry, baby. The film industry to be precise.The same artist who recently claimed he was “the hardest white boy since the one who rapped about vomit and sweaters” makes his acting debut with a remake of the 1992 sports comedy classic “White Men Can’t Jump.” But there’s nothing hard about this new movie, even with its R-rated language.

It’s a near total Disneyfication of the original in which all the incredible dialogue, daredevil sports moves, charismatic acting and unpredictable plotting have been replaced with vaguely good-natured banter and shaggy underdog clichés.“White Men Can’t Jump” stars Sinqua Walls — so excellent in Nikyatu Jusu’s “Nanny” — as Kamal, a former high school basketball legend who fell on hard times and now barely scrapes by as a delivery driver.

He still plays basketball, where he works through his ample emotional baggage on the court. But that anger leaves him open to get hustled by Jeremy (Harlow), an unassuming Beverly Hills brat in socks and sandals who also brushed up against sporting greatness before he tragically blew out his knees.When Kamal’s anger issues cost him valuable shifts at work, he turns to Jeremy, who’s training basketball players and hocking homemade energy drinks as a side gig (and who also needs cash).

If they can trick local players into underestimating Jeremy — which is pretty easy to do since he dresses like a Goop guru — they can hustle them out of enough money to buy their way into a local tournament where the grand prize is $25,000.And so we find Kamal and Jeremy playing one basketball game after another, wisecracking about their cultural differences all the while.