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Crossover

No slam dunk

By TOM MEEK | September 6, 2006

1.5 Stars

Streetball in its various forms has become a bona fide underground sport; Crossover pumps it up with hip-hop flash and contrivance. The film is a flimsy cut-out of Ron Shelton’s White Men Can’t Jump by way of Hoop Dreams — which is unfortunate, because as Tech and Cruise, two ballers looking for a way out of dead-end Detroit, Anthony Mackie and Wesley Jonathan show flashes of charisma and soul. Cruise has NBA skills and a scholarship to UCLA; Tech is struggling to get his GED. Court rivals, women (Eva Pigford and Alecia Fears), and a sharking sports agent (an effective Wayne Brady) test their mettle as friends. But even though the plot forgoes the formulaic slam-dunk, hackneyed devices, low production values, and the stilted direction (by Preston A. Whitmore II) dribble the ball off the shoe and out of bounds well before Crossover can find its game.

On the Web
Crossover's official Web site://www.sonypictures.com/movies/crossover/

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Watch the trailer for Crossover (QuickTime)

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