Get on the Bus is entertaining as it plays, full of banter and camaraderie, but for a film so inwardly focused on this real-life monumental event, it doesn’t have much of a resonating message to leave with. It feels like a lighter affair from Lee.

Within his filmography, this is mid-level Spike Lee, enjoyable enough to watch thanks to a quirky story that is thoughtfully mined for its emotional resonance.

The disparity between good intentions and awful execution is felt strongly here, making unfortunate viewers wonder how Lee and his team could make such a baffingly bad film about such an important topic.

This is clearly an ambitious and passionate piece of work from Spike Lee, but it would’ve benefited from much more time in gestation to focus on what this film truly wants to say and how to say it.

Amidst its unfortunate and uncompelling tangents, He Got Game, at its meaty core, is another strong work from Lee, Washington, and co., passionate in not only its central sport, but the characters surrounding it.

The end result is a fairly laborious and not particularly intriguing or involving piece of fiction, though the nicest thing you can say is that it at least feels like an original entry in this vampire sub-genre.