Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault

Rebound is the best basketball movie I ever seen. I love how the 'Goat' soar through the air grabbing money of the top of the backboard. That guy could jump. I also like some of the moves he does when he drives and all kinds of stuff. Overall if you haven't seen this movie then go out and rent this.

A man who could have been the best NBA player in basketball history fell victim to the abuse of drugs (heroin). Earl Manigault was Kareem Abdul Jabbar favorite street ball player,and had the highest jump that anyone couldn't image. This movie was interesting and inspiring,especially for me who was playing ball at the park around the time this movie was televised (1996-97). Well written by ER star Eric Lasalle.

was a great movie I thought it told of a mans life the roads each of us choose sometimes the bad as well as the good all in all the goat made the right move eventually . great movie true to life it showed the great city of new york for which Iam from fantastic new york story it also shows what do a man do when he falls he gets up it also focus on greats like Connie Hawkins/earl the pearl / Kareem Abdul jab bar/wilt chamberlain also it showed the real EARL MANIGAULT FANTASTIC he had moves that were not seen in those days......all of the actors were fantastic including don himself great movie that all should see also Eric Lasalle was fantastic as a director......

Don Cheadle is amazing in this movie. His reaction to his friend's overdose is a truly astonishing piece of acting. I don't know if he won any awards for this role, but he should have. If you have not seen this flick, you must.

**this review gives away some of the plot, be careful!**

It was good to see Don Cheadle, he's a fine actor, but don't expect a performance on par with his tough guys in Out of Sight and Devil in a Blue Dress. Cheadle was a good pick, the part of a great basketball player is tough because you can get a real player who has good basketball skills but says every line like he's reading a foreign language (Ray Allen), or you can get a great actor who shoots like he's using the wrong hand (Ed Norton). Cheadle's game (dribbling, shooting) looks pretty good, the only thing that wasn't convincing were the scenes displaying Manigault's amazing leaping. Because Cheadle obviously cannot get that high, we get a shot of him taking off, then another shot of him up by the rim standing on a ladder or something; its just not convincing. Manigault's alleged dunks are so unreal that I would have really liked to actually see the entire dunk just like the real goat, in one shot, whether it took computer graphics or a double that looks nothing like him (Vince Carter), or a springboard disguised as part of the court.

Watching director Eriq Le Salle act in this movie is painfully embarrassing. For example, in his basketball scenes in the beginning (btw I REALLY liked the casual dress of the players) Le Salle adorns a pantyhose style hat, its out of place, but what's so embarrassing is that since he was the director he chose to brandish the hat himself. Similarly embarrassing is that he tries to steal more of the spotlight by having his character go to Vietnam, like the pantyhose hat, this is utterly useless to the story but he includes it to promote himself. And on top of that, Le Salle has his character come back from 'Nam having lost both arms (cheap, cheap, cheap) then overdose on bad heroin. You'll get a huge laugh watching LaSalle shake on the ground with his prosthetic limbs, easily a foot longer then they should be with obvious lumps in the forearms (hands holding the prop arms.) This shows no class on the part of Eriq, who as the director introduces a character who provides no insight and is useless to the story so HE can play it and have a chance to act like a brotha and convulse like he's overdosing, how embarrassing!!

Aside from that, this movie is pretty good and I recommend it to a basketball fan. Clarence Williams III and Forest Whitaker are both very good as always.