White Men Can’t Jump is a film that couldn’t have appeared at any other time in history than 1992. Those attached to the 2023 remake may disagree – but Hollywood is now dredging the 1990s intellectual property pool, which is why adults are arguing online about a Little Mermaid remake, and why this basketball film has been dusted off and rebooted in an attempt to recapture some of the lightning-in-a-bottle quality of the original.
But the original wasn’t really about race, just as it wasn’t really about basketball. White Men Can’t Jump is about misconceptions and desperation. Though there is also a fair bit of basketball.
