‘Sunset Park’ Shows Right Moves

Seems like you can’t win for trying, right? One day, Jesse Jackson comes to town (I sat in on one of his town hall meetings) to remind our Hollywood community to grow globally and inclusively. Then, a month after the Academy Awards broadcast--which confirmed for the minority youth of the world that they might as well forget about being recognized by their peers should they ever decide to get into filmmaking--an unpretentious film opens about a confused and unconfident urban basketball team surviving its confused and unconfident new coach, while both learn how to win games and grow up.

Although it fulfills many of the goals of diversity and was wrapped before Jackson’s visit, “Sunset Park” is immediately shot down by a critic (“Too Many Flagrant Fouls in ‘Sunset Park’ ” by John Anderson, Calendar, April 26).

“Sunset Park” brought together a team much like the one Jackson referred to in his discussions. It gives terrific opportunities to a wonderful group of young actors, ranging from rapper Fredro Starr’s first leading role as Shorty to the seasoned Terrence DaShon Howard as Spaceman, all well on their way to becoming tomorrow’s stars.

Anderson is right in calling Rhea Perlman “iconic” because of her popular character from the beloved series “Cheers”; nobody plays the tough--in this case “coach”--with a heart of gold better than four-time Emmy Award winner Perlman.

The ensemble, freely directed by Steve Gomer, quickly moves from mutual distrust through cautious acquaintance, rebounds with a deeper commitment after Perlman visits her players in the hospital and jail, then scores its final points with a slam dunk of caring, tolerance and respect, as coach and team become champions in one another’s eyes. Although Anderson notes most of the film’s “noble intentions,” he fails to recognize the larger contributions this film makes toward breaking down racial and generational barriers.

“Sunset Park” proudly joins the ranks of “Dead Poets Society,” “Stand and Deliver,” “Higher Learning,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” etc., in presenting similar, well-meaning educators of all ethnicities, attempting to provide safe passage for their charges, a job more than difficult for teachers and parents alike. Like her cinematic predecessors, Phyllis Saroka (Perlman) does not represent what’s “wrong” with urban education, she represents what’s right: the willingness to show up every day and connect with our young people face to face, no matter what the challenge.

These films, made with varying degrees of technical expertise, all try to promote a sense of hope, unity and the importance of gaining an education; they may not be the most commercial of concepts but are ones that should be supported as beneficial to today’s students. “Renaissance Man,” though set in another type of classroom, features a teacher played by Danny DeVito (one of the producers of “Sunset Park”) also dealing with many of these same issues.

DeVito and Perlman, husband and wife, have chosen over the years to use filmmaking as a tool for social perspective (e.g., “Hoffa”). As far as Anderson’s reference to director Gomer working with this creative team--”He should have heeded the adage about getting involved with a family business when you’re not a member of the family”--what part of Hollywood isn’t a family business? Sometimes nepotism is experienced as a shortcoming, sometimes as an advantage, but in the entertainment community today, DeVito and Perlman form one of the most generous and concerned families, and Gomer probably counts himself lucky to be even a surrogate member.

“Sunset Park” might be hip-hop, rap and basketball, but come on, guys (I don’t remember any current female film critics writing for The Times), let’s put out the good word so that our youths are enticed into seeing all these films about empowering their futures by staying in school. After all, what’s the alternative?