Is "White Men Can't Jump" a dream?

Is "White Men Can't Jump" a dream? - Cheerful friends jumping above floor and looking at camera

At the start of White Men Can't Jump, Billy Hoyle looks around some empty outdoor basketball courts with a smile, lies down with a basketball under his head, and falls asleep. The scene dissolves to the same location, filled with players, and Billy Hoyle is sitting on the sidelines with other spectators, watching the rowdy games.

As far as I know, Billy sleeping was never mentioned again in the movie or resolved. He didn't wake up before the game, he didn't wake up at the end of the movie. I can't believe the movie was supposed to be a dream or a fantasy. Anyone else have an explanation?



Best Answer

No, it's not a dream. Why?

  1. A dream wouldn't explain how Billy (Woody Harrelson) met Sidney Dean (Wesley Snipes) his partner in the basketball court hustles. Dreams are often populated by people who the dreamer knows or has experienced in some manner; it is rare for a drem to contain people who the dreamer doesn't in anything other than minor roles within the dream itself.
  2. Scenes occur in the film independent of Billy's presence - Even the most detailed dream would only brief periods when the protagonist was not an active part. And these are usually disjointed and poorly structured. Billy's girlfriend, the Jeopardy scenes and especially the interactions between SIdney and his girlfriend would not be probable in a dream.
  3. There's no "closing scene" - For the film to have been a dream or a hallucination, there would have had to been a "closing scene" that clearly delineated the dream from reality. The narrative of film at no point indicates this meaning that everything that occurs in the film is supposed to viewed as existing in the film universe's reality.

The sleeping scene is simply a narrative conceit of the writers that seems to have been left in the film with little supporting structure to connect with the rest of the feature.




Pictures about "Is "White Men Can't Jump" a dream?"

Is "White Men Can't Jump" a dream? - Full body cheerful teenager friends in colorful wear jumping high on white background and looking at camera
Is "White Men Can't Jump" a dream? - Person Wearing a T-shirt With the Text Keep it Together
Is "White Men Can't Jump" a dream? - Man in White T-shirt and Black Pants Doing Skateboard Trick



Can Woody Harrelson actually play basketball?

Lanier invited Harrelson to play a little one-on-one. Harrelson later described it as "the most embarrassing fifteen minutes of my life." According to their basketball instructors, Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson reached the skill level to be able to start for an NCAA Division III team.



White Men Can't Jump (1/5) Movie CLIP - Slow, White, Geeky Chump (1992) HD




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