Desertman84 Above the Rim tells a story of a promising basketball player in high school who is torn between his relationships that could ultimately affect his decision in the future especially when there is a great possibility of slipping into crime.It stars Duane Martin,Leon Robinson,Tupac Shakur,Bernie Mac,Tonya Pinkins,David Bailey and Marlon Wayans.The screenplay was written and directed by Jeff Pollack with Barry Michael Cooper and Benny Medina acting as co- writers.Kyle Watson is a talented basketball player who is about to graduate from high school. While waiting for the decision of whether Georgetown University will provide him a full scholarship or not,he gets into difficult dilemma in a playground basketball tournament.He is conflicted by a decision as to whether play or not for his beloved coach Birdie,who happens to have great influence on his life and is known as a thug in the neighborhood who is pressuring him to join his gang.Also,he gets into deep resentment towards Thomas "Shep" Shepherd,a failed star basketball player as he ended up as a security guard at a high school where Kyle is studying.As the movie progresses,we learn not only of Kyle but also about the characters that surround him.While the story can be considered both formulaic and melodramatic,it would definitely be a threat for basketball fans as it contains a lot of great basketball action scenes.Also,the characters in the story are considered compelling and interesting enough as the cast were able to provide great performances that provides depth to them that somehow overcomes average script.Special mention should be given to the late Tupac Shakur,who definitely is a wonderful actor.And who can forget the soundtrack especially those whoa re fan of rap music?Overall,it is one of the 90's movies that one would surely enjoy at present while this review is being written.

Phil Hubbs Very clichéd and dated gangster/basketball flick set in NY as a young black teen tries to get a basketball scholarship whilst battling against a local thug and his former basketball star brother who is now a security guard at their high school.Everyone in this film is a walking cliché. Shakur is yet another gangster (he couldn't do anything else...useless), Wayans is annoying and camp as usual, Duane Martin is the annoying loud mouth cocky star player and Leon is the quiet dark horse and probably the best thing in the film. Basically you have all the usual gangster nonsense with all the hilariously bad street clothes worn by Shakur and co. Lots of foul language dodgy deals guns drugs and various adults trying to get these dumb asses to grow up and get a life. Looking back now this movie does seem extremely predictable cheesy and stereotypical, hell the movie is virtually racially profiling these guys from the outset. Thing is back in the day these movies were popular and deemed fresh gritty realistic stories from the hood, showing the middle/rich classes life on the street and how blacks youths were badly treated. To me these movies only tended to damage minority groups, giving young blacks a bad reputation. Sure its only a movie but there were so many like this back in the 90's and most revolved around crime drugs and shootings. But hey that's just my thoughts, maybe I'm a bit out of touch too.The only decent thing in the whole film is the small segments of basketball and the competition at the finale which does show some good genuine skills. Only at the end does this movie really come alive...and it reminded me a little of 'White Men Can't Jump' minus the goofy comedy.4/10

fullenw I don't know if a Above the rim is seen as a sports flick. Either way its a classic.When I say classic I don't mean a boring movie that was good in its heyday. I mean a fun movie combining inspiration, comedy, drama, great acting and great cast.There's 2 stories rolled into 1. Tommy Shepards problem pretty much brought him down. Kyle Watson on the other hand is a high school basket baller that if he plays his cards right will avoid the same fate as Tommy Shepard.Recognizable cast as well. Definitely a must-see. Especially with Marlon Wayans and Tupac. This is perhaps Duane Martins and Leons best performance ever.

dj_patto90 Yo was sup I'm telling u man I saw watched this movie about 3 times on the day I got it- Christmas 2005 and the only reason I would have done that is because it is the best movie on planet earth, yeah I'm prepared to make that statement, damn man this movie is tight man and it stars the late Tupac who is a better actor than I would have expected man I seriously think the guys in this movie must have played basketball at a high level cause you ain't gonna teach actors to play ball THAT GOOD. They definitely did a good job at making this movie and I would advise all Basketball lovers to watch this movie trust me you will absolutely love this movie and not to mention the gangsterous soundtrack which completely sets the mood for many of the scenes, it's a shame that Pain by 2pac is unreleased and is only on the casette version of the soundtrack as it is a GREAT song. anyway Peace out