The Sixth Man (1997) User Reviews

A heartwarming comedy

[Ezuma · 7/10 · 11 July 2005]

After watching a very good game of cricket between Australia and England, it was 2 in the morning, and I wasn't interested in sleeping. After watching Tony Squires, Shane Lee and Kerry O'Keefe farewell the cricket for the night, I saw a movie starting titled "The Sixth Man". Being a fan of Marlon Wayans and his wacky comedy, I tuned in to watch, also being a fan of basketball and the NCAA.

Kenny and Antoine Tyler (played by Marlon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison respectively) are two big-time players for the Washington University Huskies. Although Antoine is the captain and major star, his younger brother Kenny, is the play-maker at the point, and the two Tylers have their trademark alley-oop, which leaves opponents and the crowd in awe.

After a huge alley-oop, in which Antoine suffers a heart-attack and dies on the way to the hospital, the team lose their spirit and give up the next four games by more than 20 points each. Kenny calls for his brother in the gym after a bad training session, begging for his help. After haunting him for a few minutes, Antoine appears in front of Kenny, and the two brothers are reunited. Kenny can't wait to tell his family and the team, but Antoine tells him that only he can see him.

After Antoine helps the team to a few freak wins, and eventually, to the finals series, and after Kenny and Antoine let the team know of his presence, and they all learn that Antoine is no longer needed to help the team to victory.

This movie is a story of heart and courage, and the story of a team who learn to use their hearts to achieve their goal.

Marlon Wayans does a superb job at not only acting, but acting like a complete fool, which includes wrestling with himself, and giving himself really goofy faces. He's the black Jim Carrey, and he has a long future ahead of him.

Poltergeist-lite

[JoeytheBrit · 6/10 · 25 October 2006]

Released to coincide with the conclusion of the actual NCAA championships back in 1997, The 6th Man combines ghost and sports themes with poor results. Mixing special effects we've all seen before with the clichéd coming-back-from-an-impossible-position-in-the-final finale that has about as much uplifting excitement as the last coming-back-from, etc, that we all probably saw less than a month ago, it has only a couple of well-acted scenes, and a good chemistry between screen brothers Marlon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison in the early scenes, to recommend it.

Marlon Wayans plays Kenny Tyler who, with his brother, Antoine (Kadeem Hardison,) form a formidable basketball partnership. Content to live in his flashy ball-hogging brother's shadow, Kenny suddenly finds himself thrust into the spotlight when Antoine dies unexpectedly, and soon finds himself struggling to perform. Only when Antoine returns in ghostly form do the Huskies team for which Kenny plays recover their old form and storm their way to the finals of the NCAA championship.

Despite realising from the outset that this movie is going to follow a strictly formulaic path – the brother's coaching pop talks inspirational twaddle for the first five minutes, clearly marking himself out for an early grave – the movie is surprisingly quite effective in the early scenes when it concentrates on establishing the relationship between the brothers, and Antoine's untimely death ("I'll come back", he promises prophetically). But, upon Antoine's return, the movie abandons any pretence of pathos to subject us to an hour of largely unfunny poltergeist-lite hi-jinks both on and off the baseball court. Only Kenny can see his dead brother, so we get plenty of scenes in which he hugs the air, or twists himself into tortuous shapes as he and Antoine fight, much to the bewilderment of his team-mates and largely redundant romantic interest (Michael Michele). Barely funny the first time, by the end of the movie Wayan's mugging (he seems to be doing a Will Smith impersonation through most of the movie) soon proves to be extremely irritating.

And Kenny and his mates are just a little late in finding the moral enlightenment to bar Antoine from helping them to win the championship by cheating. Getting to the final by having their ghostly sixth man stealing the ball from their competitors, or inhabiting their bodies, is fine it seems. But actually winning the final that way is a big no-no for some reason. Seems to me that when the revelation that, hey, cheating is wrong! finally sank into their thick skulls they would have forfeited the final as they shouldn't really have been there anyway. But this is a Hollywood movie, aimed at teens who, as every Hollywood producer knows, have no perceptive or critical faculties.

There are two or three good scenes in this movie, which is damning enough; even more perverse is the fact that they're all the ones that are played straight. The 'comedy' here just doesn't work at all.

Angel in the Backcourt

[view_and_review · 5/10 · 19 July 2020]

It's been years since I've seen this movie. I guess it's "Angels in the Outfield" for basketball. Marlon Wayans brother, who was a stud at hoops, dies and becomes a ghost that can physically help the team. It was pretty silly and not that memorable.

A Great Movie

[Waltdog · 21 June 2000]

This movie is excellent. It is hilarious and has great drama. Kadeem Hardison and Marlon are just as convincing as brothers as Marlon is with his real life brother Shawn on "The Wayans Bros." The acting was great, the comedy was great, and the writing was great. This is the film that made me look at Marlon Wayans as more than just a funny guy, but also as a very talented actor. I give this movie a 10.

Basketball Stupidity

[DJ_Shilo · 3/10 · 1 January 2024]

"The Sixth Man" is a supernatural comedy that gets incredibly dumb very fast and becomes a by-the-book sports comedy about two brothers, Antonie (Kadeem Hardison) and Kenny (Marion Wayans,) who grow up playing basketball. Their father, James (Harold Sylvester,) dies from a heart attack before they become a popular college duo that makes it to the NCAA finals. How? Antoine dies from a heart attack while making a jump shot and comes back as a ghost that guides them there. The movie gets so stupid it's almost impossible to watch.

It opens with the childhood dreams of Antonie and Kenny, who are coached by their father, in 1986. Antoine is the star, and Kenny lives in his shadow. You know by the end of the movie, Kenny will be the star, and his brother just had to die to make that happen. Out of fright, Kenny throws the ball to Antoine, and they lose the game. They both become starters for a University team called "The Huskies."

During a game, Antoine dunks the ball and falls on the court. He dies on the way to the hospital of heart failure like his father, and Kenny is crushed. Up until this point, the film is tolerable and somewhat decent. When Antoine becomes a ghost, Kenny acts like an inconceivable moron throwing punches and giggling like a tool because he is the only one who can see Antoine, who inflates his thumb for slapstick humour when their coach is trying to talk, and Kenny laughs like a school girl.

The team embarks on a losing streak because their star player is gone until someone throws a ball in the air, and it never comes back down. In the locker room, Kenny discovers Antoine is back as a ghost because he called him back, and the hijinks are typical of a dumb comedy that relies on stupidity for attempted laughs. Stupid it gets, where everything and anything attempts to become funny.

Antoine becomes "The Sixth Man," and nobody can understand why players now fly in the air, basketballs fly from one end of the room to another, the ball gets deflected, and opponents are possessed. Soon, the team is on their way to the NCAA playoffs. Kenny acts erratic, hugs the air during practice, and the team looks at him as if he needs to go to the rubber room. He convinces them Antoine is back as a ghost, and nobody runs for the door. Instead, Antoine blows horrid special effects all over the court, slamming doors and projecting himself on a T. V. as they stare at the screen in awe.

R. C. (Michael Michele) is a sportswriter Kenny meets early in the film, and she becomes the love interest. Antoine attempts to ruin the relationship by making Kenny act foolish around her, and she doesn't think twice that maybe something is wrong. Antoine thinks she is only there to get a story, that's somewhat true, and she discovers a supernatural hand in a video recording, leading her to believe Antoine is back and is the sole reason the team is storming through game after game. Kenny tells her that Antoine is aiding the team, and she decides to throw out a report she was going to submit to the paper revealing the ghost.

The idea of the ghost is not the part of the movie that's stupid, the typical love cardboard love interest, or the basketball star that becomes the star at the end, it's the hijinks that get so stupid when nobody questions players flying in the air. There is a scene where the ball flies in the air, nobody holding it, and the ball dunks only to pop back out of the net. Commentators don't seem to realize that the laws of physics are becoming wonky on behalf of Antoine, and their coach points like he just saw something from another world.

One of the weirder scenes is in a hotel room where Antoine becomes irate and trashes the room when the team doesn't want him to play anymore. There always has to be that brotherly fight. Antoine tells Kenny he never wanted to pass away, and during the final game, his antics screw the team when someone is injured. R. C. Tells Kenny that Antoine is controlling his life in death and will never move on unless he lets his brother go, and leads to a predictable conclusion.

"The Sixth Man" is about letting go when tragedy strikes, and the writers can't even get that right, opting for a supernatural ghost causing hijinks on a basketball court. It's an example of a one-note idea when there are several possibilities that could've made this movie better. It's done in a stupid way to appeal to basketball fans, and the film goes beyond anything more than that.

3/10.

This movie was so bad its not even funny

[pkzeewiz · 1/10 · 7 January 2010]

I hate sports with passion, so perhaps a movie about basketball isn't what I need to be watching. This movie though didn't have anything to offer.

Two brothers play ball and one dies and comes back as a spirit and helps his team make it to the final four...can you say cheating!! The acting was so bad here, those Wayans brothers can't act and Kadeem Harrison or however you spell it, is one of the worst actors to ever breath. I know nothing of sports but the white kid Travis Ford was so bad I would run over him with a truck if I saw him, sports figures should not act! What a stupid story, a brother dies and he helps his team cheat as a ghost and thats acceptable, NO PEOPLE! I think Slam Dunk Ernest was more creditable as a film than this was lol.

I hated this movie so much, Idiot people actually said it was sad and made them cry, OMG are you serious???? If my dead brother came back I think I would want him to stick around as a ghost and be so thankful I had him around and not be mad at him because he is a ball hog!!! That is too funny people.

If you have the IQ of a cockroach this movie might entertain you, If you like talentless movie stars and stupid plots that try to come off as comedy then you might like this...If you wanna laugh then this wont help you out any, its horrible people.

Pretty Lame

[FiendishDramaturgy · 2/10 · 4 June 2007]

The characters herein are stretched so thin as to fail to engender any level of caring whatsoever. Further, the premise is so overdone as to negate any and all success they may have had with it.

I'm not a basketball fan, but it's a Sunday afternoon, and for lack of any other new flicks to watch, we decided to give this a shot. Unfortunately, but the time this was over, I wished we had chosen an old favorite instead.

NOTHING in this film; no element, no independent factor, rates your time, no matter HOW big a basketball fan you happen to be. This was just another terrible low-rent failure at humor of any kind. It wasn't even sophomoric enough to be amusing: It wasn't that smart.

All in all? This is terrible, and you could find something more substantial to do with your time, like rearrange your sock drawer.

It rates a 1.1/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Stick to Nintendo.....

[FlashCallahan · 4/10 · 14 March 2015]

Antoine and Kenny Tyler are NCAA college basketball players, and Antoine is the star.

Suddenly Antoine dies of heart attack during on of his best games, and Kenny has to fill his shoes as leader of team.

After the team has a run of losses, Antoine returns as a ghost and helps Kenny in game and in life, but Kenny changes in the process and doesn't quite like it.....

There was a time in the mid-nineties when it seemed that studios were giving anybody with a bit of a kookiness to them, or a decent TV career starring roles in semi-major Hollywood releases. Some had moderate success (Damon Wayans), and some started with promise but their popularity soon dropped, astonishingly rapidly (Pauly Shore, Sinbad).

But they were all watchable, had the same running time, and the narrative was based solely on their schtick, their trademark.

And then we have this movie. It's high concept, with two good leads, but the film forgets two things, Angels In The Outfield, and he most important aspect of a comedy, to be funny.

It's not Wayans fault, he has some great screen presence, and if anyone has saw his audition for the Richard Pryor forthcoming Biopic, he's a blooming decent actor.

So shame on the film makers for having him be miserable for half the film, and be running around screaming like a loon and hugging thin air for the rest of it.

It's too long, and for a children's film about a ghostly basketball player, its way too depressing and too profane.

What could have been a fun 90 minutes ends up as a boring depressing ordeal, with really nothing going for it.

Superstition

[Miz072 · 8/10 · 5 December 2011]

As a child I loved the movie The 6th Man. I probably hold the world record for the most viewings of this movie so for that reason I think I should write a review of it. As I said I loved this movie as a kid but now that I'm older I realize the many flaws it has, though I still understand what I liked so much about it when I was younger.

The 6th Man is a rare combination of comedy and drama. It doesn't transition between the two very well and I think that accounts for its less than stellar average rating. For the first 30 minutes or so The 6th Man is a great drama with some of the best basketball action you'll ever see. Antoine is a likable character and dies tragically. Kenny deals with his brother's death. A very heartbreaking story. It could have been a great drama if it had stuck to that. Then it violently switches to comedy, back to drama, and back to comedy so many times I am sure that is what turns off a lot of people. It doesn't turn me off, but it's one of the clear weaknesses.

After the movie switches to a comedy you are given a lot of hit and miss jokes, mostly involving invisible Antoine doing poltergeist stunts and freaking people out. Some of the jokes are hilarious. Personally I love the scene where Antoine goes into the painting and kicks the guy fishing into the pond. Its undoing in the comedic aspect of this movie is that it goes back to the poltergeist stuff too often. It becomes repetitive and it takes away from the serious drama that we saw for the first 30 minutes.

The basketball action in The 6th Man is among the best you will ever see. A lot of the actors in this movie were basketball players and went on to never act again. It shows both in the quality of their acting and the quality of the basketball. Travis Ford (Danny O'Grady) and Jack Karuletwa (Luther LaSalle) both put on lousy acting performances but were good on the court. Lorenzo Orr (Malik Major) also never acted again, but he seemed like he had potential as a comedic actor.

The 6th Man is a very worth watching drama/comedy. The main undoing of the movie is that it seemed like it couldn't decide which one it wanted to be. As a fan of basketball, a fan of dramas, and a fan of comedies I can understand why I still enjoy watching this. It brings something to the table in all three areas.

Highly underrated

[the_ref · 8/10 · 28 December 1998]

I saw this movie on a bus - a captive audience. The sound was too low and the screen was really small, but I still found it to be a touching comedy with a lot of heart. It was advertised as a zany "ghost basketball player haunts brother - wackiness ensues," when it is actually a strong story of the relationship between two brothers who grew up as best friends and teammates, and what happens when one of their lives is tragically cut short.

MY FAVORITE MOVIE

[katers014 · 10/10 · 7 July 2002]

This is my favorite movie, i watch it all the time! it has a great plot and i never get sick of it i repeat all the lines and songs while i am watching it, its great. and when i found out it was going to be on tv for the first time i got extremely excited because i knew people would get to see how great of a movie it really is, its funny, touching, sad, and inspiring all in one, i still get tears in my eyes every time i watch it and laugh at all the same moments this movie is great, super, fantastic, and terrific and i recommend it to EVERYONE especially basketball

This was a good movie.

[zandam14 · 10/10 · 13 January 2005]

I enjoyed this movie thoroughly when I was a kid. I thought that is was very moving. Most movies claiming to be hardcore emotional haven't made me want to cry as much as this movie did. I think I'm going to rent it tonight just to see it again. I think it was funny as well. The rating it has received in here is a shame. It should be at least a 6, 7, or 8. The two brothers played well together and the basketball scenes were cool. This movie was good from beginning to end. Wayans was great and so was the other guy. Having brothers would make you enjoy this movie even more I'm sure. I would recommend this movie to anyone looking for a good sports movie with a lot of heart.

funny and touching

[Peter T. Movie · 9/10 · 21 November 1998]

This was a great movie. It made me laugh, and I never get tired of watching it. It's fun and laughs for everyone. And even a little bit touching.

Truly heart warming.

[matthewfoley84 · 10/10 · 9 January 2019]

Easily one of my favorite films, and some of Marlon Wayans most talented work.

Like the film itself where Antoine/kadeem appears to be the engine behind this film, its Kenny/Marlon who's talent and skill touches every aspect of it. Critics tore it apart when it first came out like they thought it should be an oscar nominated type movie. If you're expecting that, you should watch something else. If you just want a touching movie /date/ family night film to sit back and enjoy...this is it.

Awesome movie

[tampaaries · 10/10 · 7 August 2022]

I remember watching this movie as a kid and I loved every minute of it then I watched it as an adult and I still love it the same. A funny movie with an emotional touch. I still tear up towards the end of this movie.

Funny

[Skidemon · 13 July 2001]

While not as good as I hoped it would be, THE SIXTH MAN does deliver a few laughs. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but it wasn't the worst. It could have been a little better if it didn't go for such cheap laughs and didn't depend so much on slapstick humor.

One of my favorites...

[dwmpe · 10/10 · 3 August 2004]

This is a truly great film. It has been under rated. It showed Marlon's potential as an academy award winning actor. This film is a tear jerker and pulls on the heart strings at the right moments. A perfect mixture of comedy and drama. Dramady. I would recommend this film for any family. I am surprised that Marlon hasn't used this film as a step ladder to further his dramatic feature film career. I'll keep hope alive. Kadeem was great to. I just found out I must complete at least ten lines in this review. Well, the supporting cast was cool. They were not the best actors in the world (team) but they served the purpose. The screenwriters should be proud of this film no matter what Hollywood says.

My brothers keeper

[IrockGswift · 19 March 2003]

There's nothing more worst then losing a sibling especially with one you grew up with. This movie is real touching especially when the teammates gave a moment of silence and hung up his jersey. A real tear-jerker. Then it became humorous when they were winning games by the help of Antione's ghost and kidding around with his younger brother. The movie is often silly at times but enjoying.

One of the greatest.

[youngstar0991 · 10/10 · 14 November 2009]

Marlon Wayans plays Kenny Tyler and Kadeem Hardison plays Antoine his on screen brother, throughout this movie the two brothers are portrayed as an unstoppable basketball duo every since they were growing up. Due to such success in basketball both brothers earned a scholarship to play at the University of Washington. While at Washington the two lit up opposing teams scoring on them at will and carrying their team to success. Then just as quickly as their success together it fell apart and shattered and was never able to be reconnected. As Kenny and Antoine are running down court to perform their trademark alley-oop, and as Antoine is slamming the ball into the hoop his heart stops, and he collapse to the ground. He's rushed to the hospital in the hopes that they will be able to save him, unfortunately he dies of his heart attack on the way to the hospital. Once Kenny is informed about his death he becomes belligerent and has to be controlled by his fellow teammates and coaches. After Antoine's death the Washington Huskies go on a four game losing streak losing all four games by 20 points or more. After a team practice Kenny stays in the gym and breaks down and begins to break down and calls for his brother to come back to him and to help him. All the lights in the gym begin to flicker and a strong gust of wind begins to make its way through the gym. Antoine appears to Kenny, and Kenny becomes ecstatic he wants to call and tell every that his brother is back alive but then Antoine tells him that he's the only one that can see him, and that he will be with him for the rest of the season. There next game comes around and they next game comes and they win and they continue to win thanks to Antoine's help. He helps people to dunk when they never could before and helps them to make shots that they never could before. After they make it to the NCAA Tournament Antoine reveals himself to the team and they are very happy to have him back. After Antoine aids his former team to the National Championship game his former teammates along with his brother Kenny decide that they don't want Antoine's help anymore and they want to win this game by themselves, Antoine becomes infuriated and makes the lights begin to flicker and a tornado style wind to fill the gym as he storms away. The Antoine less, Huskies play the 1997 National Championship game and win, and become champions.

Watch it, Love it, Watch it again, Absolutely Adore it!

[the_moody_youngest · 12 November 2006]

This is one of my favorite movies. I saw it for the first time a couple years ago and I was laughing non stop! Marlon Wayons is an excellent actor and there is no way I could hate him. (Mumbles to myself) Except in Little Man. Yes I hated Little Man but this movie was an underrated winner. I loved the comedic breaks in this film and the dramatic pieces. All though I saw it a while ago, it comes on the Family Channel a lot so I stay up and watch it when it does. I was watching it last night just eating my chips when my dad came in. He started to watch it and didn't understand it. I explained the beginning to him and we kept watching. As the movie went on, me and my dad were laughing with each other and the great comedy in this. The dramatic parts were truly touching. The story was original and the movie stuck to the plot instead of going elsewhere into something totally different. Enjoy this film. It is really funny, entertaining, interesting, and original.

10/10

TV Series Reboot on Disney+??

[rnaprenzx-06154 · 8/10 · 13 September 2022]

I would love to see this through the lens of Disney's modern era right now. Great film. Some odd years later and Kenny has two sons or daughters who play basketball. Go figure. The possibilities of the direction it can go.

A la the reimagined "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" that is now the acclaimed "Bel Air". Not saying it has to be gritty or have a "street feel" or as you may have it. Edge.

For example Smart Guy. I believe Disney+ could have a goldmine if the Smart Guy franchise is looked into again and seriously. There's many possibilities there. T. J. Has a daughter. Smart Girl. You never know.

Girl Meets World was given up on too soon. Though burgeoning careers and more mature roles helped speed up the end being near. College years or destination films. Girl Meets World LA for exmaple.

Good, touching, excellent film

[stephanotis323 · 4 March 2002]

I saw this movie on video, liked it, but then forgot about it. I saw it on IMDB, when I looked it up today, and it looks like not alot of people saw it. I loved it, it is a little sad, but I loved it. It is about a basketball player and his brother, and when the brother dies, he haunts his brother. Sad ending.

Hilarious!

[Derek-86 · 25 July 2000]

I thought this movie was hilarious! Marlon Wayans is a great comedian. In fact all the Wayans brothers are funny. They have a great talent for comedy. I would recommend this movie to all my friends and anyone else who's reading this.

The story and characters are too thin to care about and the ghostly basketball action gets very old very quickly

[bob the moo · 17 August 2005]

Kenny and Antoine are brothers raised on the basketball court – Kenny is the workhorse who has bigtime assists but it is Antoine that knocks them down. Playing college ball they both are on the verge of being solid draft picks at very least but a big game against UCLA brings tragedy when Antoine is badly hurt and dies on the way to the hospital. The team is devastated, naturally it hits Antoine the most and, although they all try to carry on, the team slides to a massive losing streak and Antoine is inconsolable. Until that is, Kenny gets some help from an unexpected source.

This is a strange film because it can't settle on what it wants to be and the resulting mix of tones doesn't work well. The first 30 minutes of the film is overly sentimental and played as if we are supposed to be emotionally involved with the brothers but then it immediately turns into a goofy, silly comedy where the laughs are all meant to come from unbelievable moves on the basketball court. In the early stages it is interesting enough but you do always sense that it is just looking to get to the ghost part and the joking. Once it gets there it becomes all about the effects and obvious "dunking from halfway" stuff; problem is it isn't funny and it stops the film having any sense of excitement or involvement in the games or the characters The cast don't help either. Wayans spends most of the film mugging, hoping that that will be enough. Hardison doesn't quite do that but he is all about the ghost jokes rather than the people. Michele is cute but her romantic section is unconvincing and unnecessary while support from Paymer, Dunn and others don't have much to do. The problem with them is not their performances so much as the fact that material isn't very good. Without laughs, characters or a decent story, it only is periodically amusing and certainly not worth hunting down as a sports movie, comedy or story. Die-hard fans of Wayans brand of mugging will maybe enjoy it but most people will see it for what it is – a very basic comedy.

The funniest movie ever

[bsdoll · 26 February 2002]

This is the funniest movie I have seen! I couldn't stop laughing!!!!!! Marlon Wayans does very good work, I really don't understand how the actors didn't laugh while filming it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Only the end is bit sad, but............ If I see it again, I think I will skip it, cos I don't want to have a stomach-ache again!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just kidding!!!!!!!!