MovieChat Forums > White Men Can't Jump (2023) Discussion > Better Than the Original

Better Than the Original

posted 2 years ago by FilmBuff (7241)
16 replies | jump to latest

I wouldn't really say this is a remake, as it has very little in common with the 1992 film beyond the most basic idea of a white player and a black player teaming up to play basketball together and make some money.

The original had good moments, but was overall uneven, heavy-handed, and sometimes schmaltzy. This film is markedly better. It's funnier and better-paced. I'm not saying the original was terrible or that this is a masterpiece, but if the first one is a 5/10, this one is a 6.

[–] UncleRuckis (2627) 2 years ago

This film has nothing on the original. The characters in this are bland, unlikeable and Jack Harlow (whoever the hell he is) is a garbage actor. Woody and Westly played so well as a duo that they made entirely different film together. Seeing these new two try and come off as buddies was just cringy.

Funny enough, the original barely touched on race despite Billy being a hick living in LA. In the remake, they can't go two seconds without bringing up Jeremys whiteness despite him sounding like every down ass white guy that you know grew up around black folks.

[–] Tongue (472) 2 years ago

The original touched on race a little bit but it was actually funny and served a point. In this it’s just bringing up race constantly because it feels like it needs to considering the current climate. I am beyond tired of hearing about race .. it’s just so tired at this point

[–] Tyler1986 (236) 2 years ago

I disagree on Jack Harlow, I'd never heard of him before this, but I think he did pretty good for the majority of the movie.

[–] TandyMan (11115) 2 years ago

This was pretty good. I enjoyed it though it got worse as it went along. They definitely packed all the good writing into the first 30 minutes. The clever dialog got more and more sparse toward the end. I like that it moved quickly and didn't get mired in nonsense. And it easily could have. The opportunities were there. Had so little to do with the original film it wasn't upsetting that this remake exists. Soundtrack was definitely overloaded. They must have packed 50 songs into this thing.

[–] Tyler1986 (236) 2 years ago

It also had the gambling aspect of the original.

But I agree, I liked the original, but I think this may be better.

[–] funkychicken (613) 2 years ago

Disney shills up in here up in here... lol

[–] FilmBuff (7241) 2 years ago

Is this even a Disney film? It's on Hulu, not Disney+.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7704) 2 years ago

Disney produced it and put it on Hulu.

[–] FilmBuff (7241) 2 years ago

Why wouldn't they put it on their own channel? You'd think they'd want to use it as a way to convince people to subscribe. Or does Disney own Hulu now, too?

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7704) 2 years ago

Well they did also put that Modok show on Hulu.

[–] FilmBuff (7241) 2 years ago

They gave Modok his own show? Is it the same Modok from Ant-Man?

I wish they'd put more on Hulu. I have Hulu but I don't have Disney+ and I am curious about Secret Wars.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7704) 2 years ago

Funnily enough I stopped paying for Hulu recently because they got rid of a lot of older shows I was watching. I still watch Disney Plus. Been enjoying watching the old Spider-Man shows from the 80s. I admit I am not sure if the Modok show is still on there. It wasn't a success. The Modok show wasn't really like the comics. It was basically the same style of humor as Family Guy. But then again the recent adaptation of him in the Ant Man movie wasn't faithful either.

[–] OldG (795) 2 years ago

I think they only do this in the US? As we don't have Hulu in Denmark all this stuff is available on the Disney+ platform... which is nice:-)

[–] FilmBuff (7241) 2 years ago

Nice if you have Disney+, but not if you only have Hulu! :P

[–] TandyMan (11115) 2 years ago

Rewatched the original which I haven't seen in many years. It's not very good. More like it's half great. All my happy memories of the movie are all packed into the first half. Then it gets meandering with all kinds of nonsense and this ridiculous Jeopardy story line and it really just hits a wall and becomes a completely different movie. And then there's the really bizarre intro to the film where you're not sure that Woody isn't just imagining the whole movie as a fantasy while laying on the basketball court. When it's good it's great but half that movie sucks.

[–] OldG (795) a year ago

This one was very mediocre... so I doubt it is better than the original... but it has been a while since I saw the old version, so I don't remember it that well... But I do recall that Woody and Wesley had chemistry and the leads in the new one doesn't... and the story isn't really interesting and the white dude is not a greeat actor... so all in all not a great film