As a director, Lee continues to hone his considerable craft and is unafraid to take creative risks along the way.

Lacking the moral indignation and militant politics of Lee's former work, this vibrantly colorful father-son melodrama is soft at the center, but it's one of the most accessible films Lee has made and Denzel Washington is terrific.

At the end of Mr. Lee's movie, all you feel is the distraction of Mr. Lee's stylistic exhibitionism, without which, I concede, he might not be regarded as a genius in some quarters.

“He Got Game” shows that being young, gifted and Black in America is not easy. In fact, if you’re not careful, it can destroy you.