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White Men Can't Jump

 White Men Can't Jump
type
TVTItem
 White Men Can't Jump
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White Men Can't Jump
 White Men Can't Jump
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WhiteMenCantJump
 White Men Can't Jump
comment
White Men Can't Jump is an Odd Couple comedy from 1992 starring Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Rosie Perez and Tyra Ferrell.It's about two basketball hustlers, Sidney Deane (Snipes) and Billy Hoyle (Harrelson) who work the playground courts of Los Angeles. When Billy ends ups hustling Sidney, Sidney proposes the two of them team up to play in a tournament and to hustle other players as a warm-up beforehand. Written and directed by Ron Shelton of Bull Durham and later, Tin Cup, the movie boasts his signature snappy dialogue and a real handle on athletes and their egos. Also bizarrely got an In Name Only video game adaptation for the ill-fated Atari Jaguar.
 White Men Can't Jump
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2024-02-06T22:45:53Z
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2024-02-06T22:45:53Z
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Dropped link to HoistByTheirOwnPetard: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
 White Men Can't Jump
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Dropped link to Jeopardy: Not a Feature - ITEM
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HoistByTheirOwnPetard
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DBTropes
 White Men Can't Jump / int_1649e053
type
Your Mom
 White Men Can't Jump / int_1649e053
comment
Your Mom: A particular favorite variant of the Trash Talk the players use.
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_313e9485
type
Hero with Bad Publicity
 White Men Can't Jump / int_313e9485
comment
Hero with Bad Publicity: Billy gets Gloria on Jeopardy! by using his basketball skills to win a bet with a security guard who works the lot, which completely changes Gloria's life when she becomes a five-day champion. Gloria never finds this out and leaves him at the end because he bets some of her winnings (which she gave him) on a basketball game. Which he ends up winning.
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Batman Gambit
 White Men Can't Jump / int_38d02d44
comment
Batman Gambit: When Sidney points out the two players to beat at the tournament, Billy immediately starts insulting them, on the theory they won't play as well if they're too pissed off. It works. Also, in their hustle, when Sidney lets his opponents pick his partner in two-on-two from anyone in the crowd, knowing that they won't be able to resist picking Billy.
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Jeopardy! Intelligence Test
 White Men Can't Jump / int_400add8
comment
Jeopardy! Intelligence Test: Gloria is trying to save enough money to go on the show and is always studying. Eventually, she gets on the show and becomes a five-day champion.
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Bittersweet Ending
 White Men Can't Jump / int_40cc0c7e
comment
Bittersweet Ending: More sweet than bitter. Billy and Sidney have gotten enough money so Sidney can move his family to a better neighborhood and Billy can finally pay off the Stucci brothers; not only that, but Billy and Sidney finally seem to be back on good terms, with him intending to get Billy a job. However, Gloria has most likely left Billy for good.
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Bookends
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comment
Book Ends: The singing group at the beginning of the movie shows up at the end.
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Bookworm
 White Men Can't Jump / int_532a8261
comment
Bookworm: Gloria, constantly pouring over almanacs.
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Logo Joke
 White Men Can't Jump / int_5473668f
comment
Logo Joke: The 20th Century Fox logo plays normally, but the music is re-arranged in a funky fashion.
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_7464705c
type
Arc Words
 White Men Can't Jump / int_7464705c
comment
Arc Words: "Listen to the woman." Sidney always does; Billy tries, but doesn't do it much of the time. At the end of the film, Sidney's still with his wife Rhonda, but Gloria has left Billy for good.
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Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!
 White Men Can't Jump / int_7fbb2a3
comment
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Billy does this three times. First, this is the entire source of the problem between him and the Stucci brothers; they paid him to throw a game, but one of the opposing players insulted his ability, he took offense, and ended up winning a game he was supposed to lose, which made the Stucci brothers upset, and now he's on the run. Secondly, after Billy and Sidney have won the tournament, Sidney insults his jumping ability, so Billy bets Sidney his winnings that he can, in fact, dunk the ball; naturally, he loses, and this causes Gloria to break up with him. Finally, after Billy and Gloria have gotten back together, and Sidney's apartment has been robbed, Sidney comes up to Billy asking him to play a game with him so he can win enough money to move. Billy leaves, which gets Gloria upset because Billy had promised to stop playing (plus he used her Jeopardy winnings as collateral), and she ends up leaving him for good. Sidney gets a pretty big one himself. Billy probably would not have lost Gloria if Sidney had done a better job explaining what was going on. If he had told her about the burglary and wanting his family out of Vista View, she would likely have cut him a break. Sidney instead pressures him into taking the game against King and Duck, and then he clams up and watches Billy hang himself by going against the very advice HE gave him to reconcile with her. Even if Sidney was newly desperate, this makes him look like a pretty big Jerkass. His throwing Billy's choice back at him in the pentultimate scene doesn't help either.
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Motor Mouth
 White Men Can't Jump / int_82518cf7
comment
Motor Mouth: Everyone on a basketball court. Also extremely true for Gloria, who can rattle off long strings of facts without hesitation. As she's played by Rosie Perez, this is to be expected.
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type
Bait-and-Switch
 White Men Can't Jump / int_8797239c
comment
Bait-and-Switch: After Billy pays off the Stuccis, we see a shot of him lying on the ground with Blood from the Mouth while a camera flashes. It's set up to appear like a crime scene, and the Stuccis whacked him. It turns out it was a deliberately faked scene and the Stuccis are the ones taking the pictures. They let him walk away, but keep the photo to add to their album, for the sake of their ruthless reputation.
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_94680696
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Shaped Like Itself
 White Men Can't Jump / int_94680696
comment
Shaped Like Itself:
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_973d220f
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Never My Fault
 White Men Can't Jump / int_973d220f
comment
Never My Fault: Both Sidney and Billy are guilty of this. Sidney talks Billy into playing one last game after Billy had promised Gloria he'd stop playing. After she leaves him, Billy blames Sidney for talking him into it, despite the fact that it was ultimately Billy who agreed to go along with it. Sidney fires back at Billy by pointing out the above, but in such a way that his part in it is downplayed. He says, "I didn't have to talk to you for very long. I presented you with an option, and you took it." Despite the fact that Billy initially balked because of his promise to Gloria, and Sidney pressured him until he gave in, then stood by and watched Billy blow it without sticking up for him or explaining the extenuating circumstances.
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_9d2231a6
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Hustler
 White Men Can't Jump / int_9d2231a6
comment
Hustler: Both Billy and Sidney are somewhere between this and Con Man.
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_a6cda066
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Rule of Three
 White Men Can't Jump / int_a6cda066
comment
Billy does this three times. First, this is the entire source of the problem between him and the Stucci brothers; they paid him to throw a game, but one of the opposing players insulted his ability, he took offense, and ended up winning a game he was supposed to lose, which made the Stucci brothers upset, and now he's on the run. Secondly, after Billy and Sidney have won the tournament, Sidney insults his jumping ability, so Billy bets Sidney his winnings that he can, in fact, dunk the ball; naturally, he loses, and this causes Gloria to break up with him. Finally, after Billy and Gloria have gotten back together, and Sidney's apartment has been robbed, Sidney comes up to Billy asking him to play a game with him so he can win enough money to move. Billy leaves, which gets Gloria upset because Billy had promised to stop playing (plus he used her Jeopardy winnings as collateral), and she ends up leaving him for good.
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_a7aef9ff
type
Obfuscating Stupidity
 White Men Can't Jump / int_a7aef9ff
comment
Obfuscating Stupidity: Billy's entire act; he dresses up in goofy clothes, does exaggerated workout routines and generally acts like an idiot so people will immediately think he isn't much of a player.
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_aba8065b
type
Fatal Flaw
 White Men Can't Jump / int_aba8065b
comment
Fatal Flaw: Billy's is his pride. He wins a game he was paid to throw, which is why he's on the run from the Stuccis. He stupidly bets (and loses) his tournament winnings that he can dunk, just because Sidney doesn't believe he can and Billy's ego can't take it. Later, he bets on a basketball game after promising Gloria he wouldn't, at least partially to prove he's still good enough to beat King and Duck.
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_af616e40
type
Accidental Misnaming
 White Men Can't Jump / int_af616e40
comment
Accidental Misnaming: Billy doesn't mind being called a "chump" (at least when he's Obfuscating Stupidity), but that's not his name.
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Catchphrase
 White Men Can't Jump / int_b01abe4f
comment
Catchphrase: "It's hard goddamn work making you look this bad!"
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_b032e4ed
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Ms. Fanservice
 White Men Can't Jump / int_b032e4ed
comment
Ms. Fanservice: Gloria.
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Berserk Button
 White Men Can't Jump / int_bc74ef27
comment
Berserk Button: Billy doesn't like having his playing ability challenged, which gets him into a lot of trouble; see Nice Job Breaking It, Hero below.
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Shout-Out
 White Men Can't Jump / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out: When Sidney and Junior first see Billy, they think he's something out of The Brady Bunch. When Sidney asks a friend of his who's a security guard where Jeopardy! is filmed to get Gloria onto the show, he imitates Don Corleone. Junior, bragging about Sidney's form when shooting a basketball, quotes John Keats ("A Thing of beauty is a joy forever").
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Slap-Slap-Kiss
 White Men Can't Jump / int_d1cedb73
comment
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Billy and Gloria.
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_dec8bfbf
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Trash Talk
 White Men Can't Jump / int_dec8bfbf
comment
Trash Talk: If there's one thing both Billy and Sidney (along with the other players) do as well as playing basketball, it's this. See Your Mom below.
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 White Men Can't Jump / int_eb8ec7c8
type
Jerkass
 White Men Can't Jump / int_eb8ec7c8
comment
Sidney gets a pretty big one himself. Billy probably would not have lost Gloria if Sidney had done a better job explaining what was going on. If he had told her about the burglary and wanting his family out of Vista View, she would likely have cut him a break. Sidney instead pressures him into taking the game against King and Duck, and then he clams up and watches Billy hang himself by going against the very advice HE gave him to reconcile with her. Even if Sidney was newly desperate, this makes him look like a pretty big Jerkass. His throwing Billy's choice back at him in the pentultimate scene doesn't help either.
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Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness
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comment
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Gloria, and it drives Billy crazy.
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White Men Can't Jump

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

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