Movie Review

Space Jam: A New Legacy pumps up LeBron James and Warner Bros. properties

For a certain generation, 1996’s Space Jam will always hold a special place in their heart. Teaming up Looney Tunes cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and Tweety with NBA superstar Michael Jordan was a goofy lark that has endured because of the iconic status of the characters and Jordan, not to mention the memorable song “I Believe I Can Fly” (although the less said about that song’s singer, the better).

Twenty-five years later, there is only one obvious player on which to hinge the property’s return, and that’s LeBron James. That’s not only because he’s arguably the best player in the NBA since Jordan, but because – in limited reps – he’s proven to be an above average actor, most notably in Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck.

Space Jam: A New Legacy finds LeBron playing a version of himself, complete with three kids and a wife. The movie LeBron is a bit of an overbearing sports dad, pushing his two sons to work as hard at basketball as he does. One son, Dom (Cedric Joe), is much more interested in creating his own NBA Jam-style video game than actually playing the sport, something that frustrates LeBron to no end.

In the super-synergistic film, the movie studio Warner Bros. is using a computer algorithm to determine what kind of movies they should be making. Personified by Don Cheadle, Al G. Rhythm manages to capture both LeBron and Dom into his server. Once digitized, Al turns Dom against his dad by saying he never believed in him, and blackmails LeBron into playing a suped-up version of Dom’s video game to try to get his son back.

That’s a lot of set-up for what will be a silly basketball game featuring LeBron, Dom, and a bunch of cartoon characters, but you have to give director Malcolm D. Lee and the sextet of screenwriters some credit for at least attempting to tell a story. The family drama between LeBron and Dom is a much better reason to have an NBA superstar playing a fake basketball game than the thin excuse given in the first film.

Of course, LeBron is only half the attraction. The zaniness of the Looney Tunes is what most kids will be interested in, and the full complement of characters – including Bugs, Daffy Duck, Lola Bunny (voiced by Zendaya), Roadrunner, Elmer Fudd, and more – are as over-the-top as you’d expect. Some of it works, some of it doesn’t (oof, Porky rapping), but none of it is so stupid that it’s unwatchable.

The same goes for the involvement of other basketball stars like Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, Diana Taurasi, and Nneka Ogwumike, each of whom is transformed into characters with special powers for the game. The abilities Dom and Al put into the game are borderline incomprehensible, but at least they’re never boring. Ernie Johnson and Lil Rel Howery showing up as announcers for the game is also entertaining.

The biggest negative of the movie is the tidal wave of self-promotion that Warner Bros. does. Not content to just promote their cartoon characters and Space Jam merchandise, the film includes references to every other conceivable Warner Bros. property, not just kid-friendly ones like Harry Potter or Scooby-Doo.

There are nods to The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, A Clockwork Orange, King Kong, The Matrix, and Mad Max: Fury Road, among many others. If done in a clever manner, they could have worked, but they’re mostly just dumped on screen in the form of spectators at the game, something that should cause even the least cynical person in the world to roll their eyes.

Space Jam: A New Legacy is mostly shameless in the way it goes about its business, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any fun to be had. LeBron James is a natural star, and the story the film lays out keeps it grounded even when it threatens to spiral out of orbit.

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Space Jam: A New Legacy opens in theaters and on HBO Max on July 16.

LeBron James in Space Jam: A New Legacy.

LeBron James in Space Jam: A New Legacy

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

LeBron James in Space Jam: A New Legacy.

Movie Review

Spanish film La Bola Negra showcases unique slice of gay history

Miguel Bernardeau and Guitarricadelafuente in La Bola Negra

Photo by Carla Oset/Netflix

Miguel Bernardeau and Guitarricadelafuente in La Bola Negra.

For a long time — too long — gay characters in movies tended to appear as either side characters with no real stories or as tragic figures who were usually unable to express their true selves for fear of what the world at large would think. That has changed in recent years, but the remnants of the past can still haunt, as the new film La Bola Negra demonstrates.

The film takes shape in storylines involving three different men: Carlos (Milo Quifes), a young man in Granada, Spain in 1932 who wants to join an exclusive casino (aka social club); Sebastián (Guitarricadelafuente), who unwillingly joins the military during the Spanish Civil War in 1937, only to have desires aroused in him when he’s asked to guard an enemy detainee; and Alberto (Carlos González), an out gay man in 2017 whose inheritance from his recently-deceased grandfather opens up a world he knew nothing about.

The film goes back and forth between each man, detailing how they handle their individual situations and the complications that arise in their individual lives. Along the way their stories are deepened through people they meet who either welcome them with open arms or shun them for various reasons. While tragedy bonds their stories, so too does hope, resistance, and love.

Co-director/co-writers Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, along with co-writer Alberto Conejero, have expanded Conejero’s play, La Piedra Oscura, which was inspired by Federico Garcia Lorca’s unfinished play, La Bola Negra. Lorca, who was killed during the Spanish Civil War, had only finished four pages of the work, his first to feature an openly gay protagonist. It’s clear there’s a desire by the filmmakers to honor the legacy of Lorca as both a playwright and a gay man, and the seriousness of their pursuit is evident throughout the film’s 160 minutes.

Calvo and Ambrossi do little handholding to guide viewers through the three distinct stories, an approach that mostly works but occasionally leads to confusion, especially as more characters are added to the equation. None of the stories are overly complicated, but they take their time with each, making the long film feel even longer. Only Alberto’s story contains any kind of development that might be considered surprising, making it tough to fully engage with the other two.

Where the film does come alive is when it brings in two well-known actors for brief-but-fascinating stints. Penélope Cruz plays Nené Romero, a singer who entertains the troops and further expands Sebastián’s mind. Glenn Close pops up as Isabelle Durand, a scholar of Lorca who helps Alberto with a unique discovery he makes in his inheritance. Both actors bring up the level of the film significantly through their performances.

Quifes, Guitarricadelafuente (the stage name of Spanish singer Álvaro Lafuente Calvo, no relation to Javier), and González all put in good work in their roles, even if none are overly engaging. They are often overshadowed by supporting actors like Cruz and Close, as well as Miguel Bernardeau as Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, the captured soldier; Julio Torres as Alberto’s partner, and Alberto Cortés as Lorca, who brings a symmetry to the film as a whole.

La Bola Negra — which means “the black ball,” represented both literally and figuratively in the film — is an ambitious film that becomes a slight victim of its filmmakers’ aspirations. Although each of the three stories contain interesting elements, a strong emotional connection is lacking overall despite good-to-great performances.

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La Bola Negra is now playing in select theaters; it debuts on Netflix on December 2.

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