''The 6th Man'', sometimes titled ''The Sixth Man'', is a 1997 American
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Randall Miller, and starring
Marlon Wayans and
Kadeem Hardison
Kadeem Hardison (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dwayne Wayne on ''A Different World'', a spin-off of the long-running NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show''. He starred in the Disney Channel series ''K.C. Under ...
. The film features real
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA) schools, although the rosters are fictitious. Some schools shown in the film include the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
,
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...
,
California State University, Fresno
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...
(better known as Fresno State),
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
, the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...
, the
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
,
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, and others. The film features cameos from
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
personalities such as
Jerry Tarkanian
Jerry Tarkanian (August 8, 1930 – February 11, 2015) was an American basketball coach. He coached college basketball for 31 seasons over five decades at three schools. He spent the majority of his career coaching with the UNLV Runnin' Rebe ...
and
Dick Vitale
Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster f ...
.
The film was released in the United States on March 28, 1997 to negative reviews from critics and mild box office success, grossing almost $15 million.
Plot
Antoine (
Kadeem Hardison
Kadeem Hardison (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dwayne Wayne on ''A Different World'', a spin-off of the long-running NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show''. He starred in the Disney Channel series ''K.C. Under ...
) and Kenny Tyler (
Marlon Wayans), two close brothers, play a
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
game in 1986. Their motto for each other is "A&K: All the Way", created by their mother. Their father, James, coaches the team and directs Kenny to take the last shot for the win, but he passes the ball to Antoine out of fright, who misses and costs them the game. That night, Kenny tries to cheer Antoine up, still upset about missing the shot. James tells them that all they have to do is stick together and anything can happen.
In the present day, both Antoine and Kenny are a famed duo on their
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
college basketball team, the Huskies. Celebrating their most recent win at a nightclub, Kenny meets R.C. St. John (
Michael Michele
Michael Michele Williams (born August 30, 1966) is an American actress and fashion designer. She began her career on stage before appearing opposite Wesley Snipes in the 1991 film ''New Jack City''.
In the 1990s, Michele had leading roles in tw ...
), a reporter for UW, with whom he sparks an interest in. During a road game at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, Antoine scores a
slam dunk
A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...
before suffering a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
while hanging on the rim. Coach Pederson (
David Paymer
David Emmanuel Paymer (born August 30, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, and television director. He has been in films such as '' Mr. Saturday Night'', ''Quiz Show'', ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'', '' City Slickers'', ''Crazy People'', '' ...
) informs Kenny and the team after the game that Antoine has died.
Without Antoine, the team begins falling apart. During one game, however, odd sequences begin to occur, leading to a surprising win. Antoine's ghost appears to Kenny in the locker room, revealing he aided the team supernaturally, and explains that the reason he's back is because Kenny called him. Kenny's teammates begin to question his concerning behavior (as only Kenny can see Antoine), and he informs his teammates about Antoine's reemergence, who are skeptical until Antoine uses supernatural forces to persuade them. Under Antoine's influence, the team storms through the competition and eventually make it to the
NCAA tournament, for the first time in over a decade. Meanwhile, Kenny's relationship with R.C. deepens, despite Antoine's efforts to disband the two, believing R.C. is only out to get a story on him, which is partially true. R.C. originally prepares to submit a story to the paper when Kenny discloses to her that Antoine is aiding the team, but eventually decides against it.
The rest of the team begins to have misgivings about Antoine helping them in their games. Kenny informs Antoine, who becomes irate, and wrecks the room they're in. After calming down, Antoine relates to Kenny that he never wanted to pass away. Kenny tells the team he wants Antoine to stay, because he doesn't want to lose his brother again. However, in the Final Four against Georgetown, Antoine's antics seriously injure their All-American, Jerrod Smith (
Flex
Flex or FLEX may refer to:
Computing
* Flex (language), developed by Alan Kay
* FLEX (operating system), a single-tasking operating system for the Motorola 6800
* FlexOS, an operating system developed by Digital Research
* FLEX (protocol), a comm ...
), a close friend of Kenny's. While Kenny visits Jerrod at the hospital, R.C. arrives and knows it's because of Antoine, having discovered his spirit and clues in a game's footage. R.C. tells Kenny that he's letting Antoine run his life even in death, and will never truly live unless he lets Antoine go. Kenny tells Antoine not to interfere during the championship game with the team by his side, or they will voluntarily forfeit. Disappointed, Antoine leaves, but lingers nearby.
The team plays poorly in the first half of their championship game without Antoine's erstwhile preternatural intervention, spurring a halftime speech from Kenny that rouses his teammates and leads to an impressive rally in the second half to bring the game close. With the score tied in the waning seconds, Kenny attempts the game winning shot. Antoine tries to help, but Kenny tells him not to, making the shot on his own and winning the Huskies their very first championship. Before ascending into the afterlife, Antoine shares one final moment with his brother, reminding Kenny that he will always be with him. As Kenny celebrates with his team, Antoine goes off into the distance under an array of lights. Coach Pederson sees this and asks Kenny if this was Antoine, to which Kenny admits, saying their mantra: "A&K all the way".
Cast
*
Marlon Wayans as Kenny Tyler
*
Kadeem Hardison
Kadeem Hardison (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dwayne Wayne on ''A Different World'', a spin-off of the long-running NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show''. He starred in the Disney Channel series ''K.C. Under ...
as Antoine Tyler
*
David Paymer
David Emmanuel Paymer (born August 30, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, and television director. He has been in films such as '' Mr. Saturday Night'', ''Quiz Show'', ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'', '' City Slickers'', ''Crazy People'', '' ...
as Coach Pederson
*
Michael Michele
Michael Michele Williams (born August 30, 1966) is an American actress and fashion designer. She began her career on stage before appearing opposite Wesley Snipes in the 1991 film ''New Jack City''.
In the 1990s, Michele had leading roles in tw ...
as R.C. St. John
*
Kevin Dunn as Mikulski
*
Gary Jones as Gertz
*
Lorenzo Orr
Lorenzo Orr (born January 20, 1971) is a former American professional basketball player who had 12-year career in Europe. He played college basketball for USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the U ...
as Malik Major
*
Vladimir Cuk
Vladimir Cuk (born September 1, 1975) is a Croatian actor and former basketball player.
Cuk, notable for his tall stature at nicknamed "The tallest actor in Hollywood" has appeared in several movies, television shows, commercials and video game ...
as Zigi Hrbaček
*
Travis Ford
Travis Ford (born December 29, 1969) is an American college basketball coach, who is currently the head coach of the Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team. He was also previously the head coach at Campbellsville University, Eastern Kent ...
as Danny O'Grady
* Jack Karuletwa as Luther Lasalle
*
Chris Spencer as Jimmy Stubbs
*
Kirk Baily
Kirk Baily (February 2, 1963 – February 28, 2022) was an American actor.
He was best known for his role as Kevin "Ug" Lee on the Nickelodeon sitcom '' Salute Your Shorts'', and later for his voice acting roles in animation and video games.
E ...
as Coach Nichols
* Saundra McClain as Camille Tyler
Production
''The 6th Man'' was set and filmed in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
and
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
on April 2 until May 17, 1996. It had an estimated budget of $11 million.
Release
The film was released on March 28, 1997 and made $4,128,178 in its opening weekend at the box office, and went on to gross $14,772,788 throughout its theatrical run.
Critical reception
''The 6th Man'' has a 23% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, and an average critic rating of 3.8/10 based on 13 reviews.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' said:
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on March 25, 1997 by
Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...
. It peaked at #33 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...
.
See also
*
List of ghost films
Ghost movies and shows can fall into a wide range of genres, including romance, comedy, horror, juvenile interest, and drama. Depictions of ghosts are as diverse as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Beetlejuice, Hamlet's father, Jacob Marley, Freddy Kru ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:6th Man, The
1997 films
1990s ghost films
1990s sports comedy films
Films set in 1986
Films about brothers
African-American films
American basketball films
American sports comedy films
1990s English-language films
Films directed by Randall Miller
Films set in British Columbia
Films set in Seattle
Films shot in Vancouver
Touchstone Pictures films
American ghost films
Mandeville Films films
Washington Huskies men's basketball
1997 comedy films
Films produced by David Hoberman
1990s American films