BASKETBALL MOVIE JUMPS, SHOOTS ... MISSES.Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic Formula filmmaking is the real winner of ``Sunset Park Sunset Park is the name for several parks including:
Rhea Perlman Rhea Perlman (born March 31, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American 4-time Emmy Award winning actress, best known for her role as Carla Tortelli on the sitcom Cheers. , the erstwhile ``Cheers'' barmaid, is perfectly cast as the last person you'd expect to coach a Brooklyn high school Brooklyn High School may refer to:
When the little white woman introduces herself to the all-African-American varsity team, the players are, as you'd imagine, skeptical. But the team's de facto [Latin, In fact.] In fact, in deed, actually. This phrase is used to characterize an officer, a government, a past action, or a state of affairs that must be accepted for all practical purposes, but is illegal or illegitimate. captain, Shorty short·y also short·ie Informal n. pl. short·ies 1. A person short in stature. 2. A thing of less than average size, length, extension, or duration. adj. (Fredro Starr of the rap group Onyx), decides to give her a chance - and quickly discovers she doesn't know thing one about hoops. The movie is basically a shared learning experience - the guys teach her the sport, she gives them advice and pep talks and a lawyer friend when they inevitably get busted - as the long-losing team wends Wends or Sorbs, Slavic people (numbering about 60,000) of Brandenburg and Saxony, E Germany, in Lusatia. They speak Lusatian (also known as Sorbic or Wendish), a West Slavic language with two main dialects: Upper Lusatian, nearer to Czech, and its unlikely way to the city finals. Something like a crisis occurs when Phyllis' plans to head south after the season are revealed. But no one who has seen ``Dangerous Minds'' - or, for that matter, an episode of TV's ``White Shadow'' - will be shocked by the resolution of that one. Perlman laces her usual streetwise street·wise adj. Having the shrewd awareness, experience, and resourcefulness needed for survival in a difficult, often dangerous urban environment. persona with just the right amount of pragmatic nurturing; she's helpful without being sappy about it. Starr is good as a trouble-prone talent with a genuinely sensitive side. The other players are pretty much types - Terrence DaShon Howard's doper, James Harris' held-back ladies' man, etc. - whose more extreme characteristics drew derisive de·ri·sive adj. Mocking; jeering. de·ri  sive·ly adv.de·ri laughter from African-Americans in the theater where I saw the film. Indeed, except for the symbolic disrespect that Phyllis' appointment represents to the team, there is little reason why the character could not have been played by an actress of color. Perhaps such casting could have lent a little complexity to a scenario that could have really used it, too. At least director Steve Gomer Gomer (gō`mər), in the Bible. 1 Wife of the prophet Hosea. 2 Son of Japheth and eponym of a people, probably the Cimmerians. Gomer Hosea’s wanton wife. [O.T. keeps things zipping along at a fast-break pace. And despite the howlers in Seth Zvi Rosenfeld and Kathleen McGhee-Anderson's dialogue, Gomer maintains a more than usually credible, tough-but-not-hopeless urban atmosphere. If only a smidgen of it were fresh, ``Sunset Park'' could have been a contender. THE FACTS The film: ``Sunset Park'' (R; language, violence, drug use). The stars: Rhea Perlman, Fredro Starr, De'Aundre Bonds, James Harris, Terrence DaShon Howard. Behind the scenes: Directed by Steve Gomer. Written by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld and Kathleen McGhee-Anderson. Produced by Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Daniel L. Paulsen. Released by TriStar Pictures. Running time: One hour, 40 minutes. Playing: Citywide. Our rating: Two stars CAPTION(S): Photo Photo:Rhea Perlman coaches a high school basketball team, w ith Fredro Starr as its captain, in ``Sunset Park.'' |
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