Rewatchables Reference

• Bill: Keanu's funeral speech for G-Baby – the 'Keanu Day-Lewis' moment.
• Van: the pizza scene – the asthmatic kid walking home through the dangerous neighborhood too late after practice.
• Also discussed: meeting the kids in the dugout, Kofi's book report, Miles pitching with headphones (Big Poppa/Biggie), G-Baby getting his jersey and getting into the game, the Big Poppa crowd singalong.

• Michael B. Jordan – pre-Wallace on The Wire, showing Oscar-quality acting potential as a kid.
• Sterling Brim and MBJ's friendship (met on this set, still best friends).
• The 'We go to the ship' chant – may have originated from this movie.
• John Hawkes – became a respected Oscar-nominated actor for Winter's Bone.
• The Sammy Sosa cameo story ($55K, demanded extra cash).
• Practice ending too late / dangerous walk home scene.
• The crew of child actors being excellent.
• The narrative around gang violence in Chicago – prescient and only more relevant.

• G-Baby getting murdered – still devastating.
• End of D.B. Sweeney era (relegated to minor villain role).
• Sammy Sosa's career going downhill after this.
• The unrealistic baseball defensive plays.
• Diane Lane's character/date with Keanu being weird.
• The ending song ('The Storm Is Over Now' by R. Kelly) – worst aged item per Van, given it's a kids movie set in Chicago.
• White savior framing.
• Gang violence in Chicago only getting worse.

• No real casting what-ifs – Keanu was always the guy.
• Diane Lane was shoehorned in – movie originally had no love interest.

• Winner: Mike McGlone – the 'Wall Street' guy. Known from multiple Ed Burns films.
• Also: the mafia guy from Oz (the one Keanu gets $12K from).

• Keanu Reeves – 'nobody else is coming close.'
• Diane Lane as the Judd Nelson 'seems like they're in a completely different movie' award.

• Winner: John Hawkes (Keanu's gambling buddy) – only in ~5 scenes but steals them.
• Also: Michael B. Jordan – only ~5 scenes, great acting moment.

Would rename Jamal (MBJ's character) to 'Wallace' to connect it to The Wire as an origin story.

• Baseball game filmed at Tiger Stadium, not Wrigley Field (no ivy on outfield wall).
• Used CBA footage for Bulls-Heat games instead of real NBA footage.
• Brian Robbins said kids were starstruck by Keanu doing Matrix stuff on set.
• MBJ recounted Keanu taking cast to dinner with Laurence Fishburne.
• Premiered September 10 at Paramount, day before 9/11.

• Keanu Reeves – no. Keanu's acting – yes (funeral scene may be his best single acting scene ever).
• Sammy Sosa – yes (2001, still peak fame, no steroid scandal yet).
• Ticket scalpers – yes (still prominent, before the online era).
• Big Poppa the song – yes (20+ years, enduring through cable).

• Inconsistent number of players on the team (fluctuates between 8-10).
• Diane Lane's character would never be single.
• Mavs-Bulls tickets worth $46 for pizza? (Tim Floyd era, 15-67 Bulls.)
• Not enough Keanu playing/coaching baseball scenes.
• G-Baby's bullet hole looks like handgun wound, but it was a shotgun.
• Conor O'Neill has never heard 'Big Poppa' before (impossible for someone his age).

Yes – easily could be a 10-episode Netflix show.

• Wouldn't G-Baby's death have been a massive local news story with camera crews at the funeral?
• What classes did Keanu teach at the Chicago high school the next year?
• Who gets the Sammy Sosa cameo in a 2021 remake? (Tim Anderson suggested.)
• Is 'Hardball' a third cousin, second cousin, half-brother, or uncle of The Wire? (Van: 'second cousin through marriage.').

• Van: Keanu's leather jacket.
• Bill: the 'Do It For G-Baby' sign from the stands in the final game.

G-Baby – Bill notes he doesn't remember ever giving this to a fictional character before, but G-Baby is by far the most enduring part of the movie.