He Got Game

He Got Game is a 1998 American sports drama film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington and Ray Allen. The film revolves around Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel Washington), father of the top-ranked basketball prospect in the country, Jesus Shuttlesworth (Ray Allen). Jake, in prison for killing his wife, is released on parole for a week by the state's governor to persuade his son to play for the governor's alma mater in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. Plot Jesus Shuttlesworth, the top high-school basketball player in the United States, is being pursued by the top college basketball programs in the nation. His father, Jake, is a convicted felon serving time at Attica Correctional Facility for accidentally killing his wife, Martha, Jesus' mother, six years earlier. Jake is granted a work release by the governor, an influential alumnus of "Big State," one of the colleges Jesus is considering, so that he might persuade his son to sign with Big State. If successful, he'll get an early release from prison. In his first moments outside of prison, Jake contacts his daughter, Mary Shuttlesworth, who is happy to see him. When Jesus returns home from school, he refuses to look his father in the eye, and tells his sister to get rid of the "stranger" in their living room. Jesus later agrees to meet with his father at an alternative location away from Mary. Throughout the movie, Jake tries to persuade Jesus to attend Big State with seemingly no success. Eventually, he divulges the deal set up by the governor, but Jesus appears unsympathetic to his father's situation. Flashbacks illustrate the younger Jesus' grueling basketball training under his father and the night an argument between Jake and Jesus escalated into violence, resulting in Jake accidentally killing Jesus' mother after she intervened.