As a child I loved the movie The 6th Man. I probably hold the world record for the most viewings of this movie so for that reason I think I should write a review of it. As I said I loved this movie as a kid but now that I'm older I realize the many flaws it has, though I still understand what I liked so much about it when I was younger.
The 6th Man is a rare combination of comedy and drama. It doesn't transition between the two very well and I think that accounts for its less than stellar average rating. For the first 30 minutes or so The 6th Man is a great drama with some of the best basketball action you'll ever see. Antoine is a likable character and dies tragically. Kenny deals with his brother's death. A very heartbreaking story. It could have been a great drama if it had stuck to that. Then it violently switches to comedy, back to drama, and back to comedy so many times I am sure that is what turns off a lot of people. It doesn't turn me off, but it's one of the clear weaknesses.
After the movie switches to a comedy you are given a lot of hit and miss jokes, mostly involving invisible Antoine doing poltergeist stunts and freaking people out. Some of the jokes are hilarious. Personally I love the scene where Antoine goes into the painting and kicks the guy fishing into the pond. Its undoing in the comedic aspect of this movie is that it goes back to the poltergeist stuff too often. It becomes repetitive and it takes away from the serious drama that we saw for the first 30 minutes.
The basketball action in The 6th Man is among the best you will ever see. A lot of the actors in this movie were basketball players and went on to never act again. It shows both in the quality of their acting and the quality of the basketball. Travis Ford (Danny O'Grady) and Jack Karuletwa (Luther LaSalle) both put on lousy acting performances but were good on the court. Lorenzo Orr (Malik Major) also never acted again, but he seemed like he had potential as a comedic actor.
The 6th Man is a very worth watching drama/comedy. The main undoing of the movie is that it seemed like it couldn't decide which one it wanted to be. As a fan of basketball, a fan of dramas, and a fan of comedies I can understand why I still enjoy watching this. It brings something to the table in all three areas.
The 6th Man is a rare combination of comedy and drama. It doesn't transition between the two very well and I think that accounts for its less than stellar average rating. For the first 30 minutes or so The 6th Man is a great drama with some of the best basketball action you'll ever see. Antoine is a likable character and dies tragically. Kenny deals with his brother's death. A very heartbreaking story. It could have been a great drama if it had stuck to that. Then it violently switches to comedy, back to drama, and back to comedy so many times I am sure that is what turns off a lot of people. It doesn't turn me off, but it's one of the clear weaknesses.
After the movie switches to a comedy you are given a lot of hit and miss jokes, mostly involving invisible Antoine doing poltergeist stunts and freaking people out. Some of the jokes are hilarious. Personally I love the scene where Antoine goes into the painting and kicks the guy fishing into the pond. Its undoing in the comedic aspect of this movie is that it goes back to the poltergeist stuff too often. It becomes repetitive and it takes away from the serious drama that we saw for the first 30 minutes.
The basketball action in The 6th Man is among the best you will ever see. A lot of the actors in this movie were basketball players and went on to never act again. It shows both in the quality of their acting and the quality of the basketball. Travis Ford (Danny O'Grady) and Jack Karuletwa (Luther LaSalle) both put on lousy acting performances but were good on the court. Lorenzo Orr (Malik Major) also never acted again, but he seemed like he had potential as a comedic actor.
The 6th Man is a very worth watching drama/comedy. The main undoing of the movie is that it seemed like it couldn't decide which one it wanted to be. As a fan of basketball, a fan of dramas, and a fan of comedies I can understand why I still enjoy watching this. It brings something to the table in all three areas.