BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
When was the last time YOU watched Space Jam? I’ve not watched Space Jam in at least ten years, probably more. When it came out I was in Junior high and obsessed with the Bulls and Michael Jordan. When you’re a kid, living in Chicagoland and a Bulls fan it was an amazing time. I can only imagine it being like being a New York Yankees fan in the 50s when Mantle, DiMaggio and all of those dudes were around. It was just magical and I don’t think anyone outside of that can really relate. Teams have great periods of time and win titles, but that kind of dynasty is just special. I’m not a religious person, most likely because no religious entity can live up to the hype that MJ, Pippen, and the gang had and exceeded. These people were super heroes, Gods and the bringers of many great memories. Sharing those moments with my parents is as strong of moments of anything to happen in my life and imaginable. Outside of marriage and births, it’s THAT big. That said, Michael Jordan was NOT a great actor. He’s the best basketball player of all time, but he sucked as an actor. In my rewatching of this movie I started to question if Jordan was on set for more than a few days tops. It’s mostly him reacting to cartoons that weren’t there and then some extra stuff with him golfing, playing baseball and interacting with kids not his own. He is charming and endearing, but there just wasn’t much magic from him in the movie. I think he really got by on his fame in this one. Even for a kids movie, he’s kind of lame. The Looney Toons had some fun lines and did a great thing here by carrying Jordan to a good movie. It was like Jordan was the Horace Grant and Bugs and the gang were the Jordan and Pippen of the movie. It was a fun trip down memory lane. It was just over 80 minutes, which was JUST about right for a movie like this. When I first saw it I saw with the eyes of that amazed child who loved all things Jordan. When I watched it this time I saw it through the eyes of a 30 year old man(child) who saw through the clouded hype. It wasn’t the worst thing ever. It was just clear why Michael Jordan only really acted in this ONE movie. One of the people I watched it with made the point that Bill Murray, who stole the show, should have been the star of the movie and Jordan should have been the hero at the end to save the day. It wouldn’t have been the same movie, but it’s hard to say it wouldn’t have been a better movie. I don’t regret watching this at all, but I’ll watch it again in another ten or fifteen years to see where things lay. If you’ve never seen Space Jam but love Michael Jordan then I recommend it. If you’ve never seen it and didn’t idolize Jordan then you’re going to see a totally different movie that I did when I was a young kid in 96 and a 30 year old in 2014. Questions come to mind while watching this like “Where is Shawn Bradley?”, “Why wasn’t Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller, and other big stars in this?”, “How many days did Jordan shoot this?”, “Why did they go with Newman from Seinfeld as the comedic relief?”, and “Why didn’t Bill Murray go pro?” to name a few. You can’t take away any of Jordan’s career highlights or moments, but 18 years is a long time. This movie is still better than anything LeBron James has done and will ever do so it at least has THAT going for it. B+
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