Ball Don't Lie on AllMovie

Screen newcomers Kim Hidalgo and Grayson Boucher headline director Brin Hill's inner-city sports drama concerning a talented but deeply troubled high school basketball star, and featuring an impressive ensemble cast including Rosanna Arquette, Nick Cannon, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Harold Perrineau, and Emilie de Ravin. Sticky (real-life basketball player Boucher) may be a king on the court, but when that final buzzer sounds his life turns upside down. Despite the fact that the skinny high school junior is a talented athlete, an early-life tragedy, a bad experience in the foster care system, and an obsessive-compulsive disorder that miraculously vanishes when he steps on the court seem to be hindering Sticky from living up to his true potential. One day, while Sticky is sinking hoops on a Venice Beach basketball court where tempers are known to flare, he begins to realize that he's not the only one struggling to overcome his troubled past and achieve true success. Later that night, Sticky plans to meet up with his girlfriend, Anh-thu (Hidalgo), and celebrate her birthday. He wants to buy her a present that will impress her and show his true devotion, but with only a few dollars to his name that's going to be a pretty daunting task. Now, over the course of one long day, Sticky will struggle to conquer his lifelong feeling of isolation, transcending his perceived limitations, and make a difficult choice that could alter the course of his entire life. Screenwriter and novelist Matt de la Peña teams with director Hill to adapt de la Peña's popular novel of the same name.