Above the Rim (1994)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Jeff Pollack

Writers (WGA):

Jeff Pollack (story) &
Benny Medina (story) ...

Release Date:

23 March 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Sport

Tagline:

The Hardest Part Of Winning Is Choosing Sides.

Plot:

Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with his two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.

Plot Keywords:

Basketball | High School | Drugs | Security Guard | Drug Dealer

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Duane Martin	...	Kyle Lee Watson
Leon	...	Shep
Tupac Shakur	...	Birdie
David Bailey	...	Rollins
Tonya Pinkins	...	Mailika
Marlon Wayans	...	Bugaloo
Bernie Mac	...	Flip
Byron Minns	...	Monroe
Wood Harris	...	Motaw (as Sherwin David Harris)
Shawn Michael Howard	...	Bobby
Henry Simmons	...	Starnes
Iris Little Thomas	...	Waitress
Michael Rispoli	...	Richie
Eric Nies	...	Montrose
Bill Rafferty	...	Himself (as Bill Raftery)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R (Certificate #32601) | Australia:MA | Germany:12 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

At the start when Shep awakes from the nightmare, you hear the intro to Tupac Shakur's "Pain" - "I Couldn't help but notice your pain" - "My pain?" - "It runs deep, share it with me!". This voice-over is from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Kyle is cheering in slow motion at the end of the movie, while "regulators" was playing, you clearing see Kyle accidentally hit heads with another one of the players

Quotes:

Kyle-Lee: Why are you doin this man? It's just a game.
Shep: Not to me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 1995 Source Hip-Hop Music Awards (1995) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Oh Shit

A Hip-Hop Classic

Can you believe that this movie was made over 10 years ago? It is very hard to believe but this movie has stood the test of time and it is highly regarded as one of the greatest basketball/hip-hop movies ever made. Here you have a star studded cast which features Duane Martin, Tonya Pinkins,Marlon Wayans,Bernie Mac,Leon and the late great rapper/actor Tupac Shakur(2Pac). Here you can see why Tupac was highly respected not only as a celebrated gangsta rapper,but also a great actor with an impaccable skill and broad range and here in this movie you see why. A film that is not to be missed. Rating:***** five stars.