She Ball (2020)

She Ball review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

She Ball is a film that wants to say everything but ultimately ends up saying nothing. You can tell it was made with a misguided heart that really wanted to present a triumphant and cathartic tale of urban life for black Americans. What most likely began as an admirable attempt at basketball drama soon falls flat on its face as it fails to dunk on any of its emotional and poignant points.

See if this premise sounds familiar. A single father finds his prospects for playing in the NBA have shattered due to the gang violence in his California neighborhood. He turns his attention to his own community where a community center is doomed to be torn down. The only hope for restoring this important place that brings the community together is to form an all-woman basketball team and win the big game to save his neighborhood. That game, however, exists in the world of street ball, where games are played for money.

There is so much that this film wants to cover. It wants to address gang violence by showing off how it degrades a neighborhood. It wants to highlight police brutality and how racial profiling further damages society. It wants to be an interracial drama of how black and white people can not only come together but also love each other. It also wants to be about family, community, rap, and so much more while also having fun with the premise.

Now, that’s not exactly a tall order if in the hands of a capable enough director. But director Nick Cannon can’t muster much more than the familiar. He falls back on a lot of common stereotypes of similar films and doesn’t do much with them. The story pretty much writes itself and this leads to a lot of scenes that feel like they’re on autopilot. Perhaps Cannon figured that if he got all the talent together and the basketball games going that some magic would turn up on the screen. Sadly, it does not.

What makes this production all the more depressing is the talent assembled. In addition to Cannon playing a lead role, the film also stars Cedric The Entertainer, Evan Ross, DC Young Fly, Faizon Love, Birdman, Luenell, and KD Aubert. Most of them do okay with the roles they’re given but they’re not given much when placed within such a derivative script. They’re not trying to make lemonade out of lemons; they’re struggling to make lemonade with dirt. And, wow, it was a major misfire of a choice to place Chris Brown in this picture, making the female empowerment angle fall flat on its face when you have him present/

She Ball is an empty exercise in the basketball drama with an added dose of lukewarm feminism. There are so many better films about basketball that manage to be about more than just a smear of themes that are graced but never explored. There are much better ones waiting to be told as well. For all the talent present on this picture, it’s shocking how none of this sticks out from the crowd or feels genuine within its own court.