Leslie Wright is a likeable girl-next-door. She’s a hard worker. She’s easy to talk to. She loves her family. And she’s a diehard hoops fan. Even though life pelts her over and over with bargain-priced lemons, she’s got the gumption to keep making the best lemonade you’ve ever tasted.
All those positive traits make Leslie a great daughter, a wonderful friend and an excellent physical therapist. But, unfortunately, they haven’t landed the thirtysomething gal any good marriage prospects. Leslie has to admit that she’s just not one of those picture-perfect beauties who turn men’s heads.
Her gorgeous roommate/godsister Morgan, on the other hand, is quite used to guys straining their necks as she passes by. So when Leslie accidentally befriends NBA All-Star Scott McKnight, the self-serving Morgan uses all her bedazzling skills to immediately take home-court advantage.
But things can change quickly in the game of basketball … and the game of love. When Scott blows out a knee, Leslie comes to the rescue to nurse him back to health. And as the ballplayer struggles to get back on his feet and save his career, he starts seeing the very special woman behind the very gifted therapist.
Suddenly, Ms. Wright is looking a lot like Miss Right.
Both Leslie and Scott have solid relationships with their respective parents. And the movie links those loving connections to the pair’s relatively good understanding of what constitutes a healthy relationship. Scott publicly praises his mother’s guidance. And though he has many female “admirers,” Scott’s set on having a committed marriage. Even gold digger Morgan admits, “When you’re in love you get married and start a family,” though she doesn’t always stand by that maxim.
Leslie’s parents state that they’ve had a long, loving marriage. And Dad repeatedly reaches out to show love and support for his daughter. Just Wright also stresses how important friendship, common interests and dedication are to a loving partnership.
Leslie’s hard work in her profession pays off when NBA teams call to hire her as a team physical trainer.
Tight, cleavage-baring dresses and tops are the outfit of choice for the majority of young women here. Several of Leslie’s dresses are very low-cut as well. A number of the women—particularly Morgan—use their revealing ensembles to purposely gain ogling attention from men … and the camera, which slowly travels up Morgan’s body as she stretches out in bed wearing a T-shirt and skimpy shorts.
Scott is shirtless on several occasions while either exercising or in bed. A female physical therapist, dressed in a curve-hugging top and shorts, leans on Scott suggestively as she works on the prone ballplayer’s knee ligaments.
Scott and Morgan kiss repeatedly. After a romantic dinner, Scott and Leslie embrace and kiss passionately, and are then seen entwined in lovemaking under the sheets. We see Leslie in bed the next morning, too, with the sheet barely covering her chest.
Some typical elbowing and body-thumping sports action is on display. Scott falls to the court at one point, gripping his knee and writhing in pain after tearing a posterior cruciate ligament (PCL).
One s-word along with a use or two each of “h‑‑‑,” “a‑‑” and “d‑‑n.” One unfinished “what the …” and a half-dozen or more exclamations of “oh my god.”
Hard alcohol, champagne, beer and wine all flow freely—both in crowded party scenes and more intimate moments in bars and restaurants. That allows the movie’s central characters to drink liberally. While on a blind date, for instance, Leslie and her companion drink multiple glasses of wine and hard liquor. She suggests to him, “Let’s get toasted.” A depressed Scott is shown asleep in bed with a handful of empty beer bottles on his night table.
Morgan rebukes Leslie for just “being herself” on a date. “You’re not supposed to show him your regular self until you’re five years into the marriage,” she declares. Later, when Leslie asks Morgan if she plans on getting a job, her roommate reports that her job is to become an “NBA trophy wife.” In the process of reaching that goal, Morgan lies about her charity work. And when Scott’s first therapist shows up, a jealous Morgan reports, “Some people have got ‘gaydar,’ but I’ve got ‘hodar’ and this woman’s a ho.”
There’s no question that Just Wright is something of a Cinderella tale. Leslie Wright is every inch an appealing princess of the common folk—who’s much more concerned with the content of her heart and the strength of her character than the designer labels on her dress and glass slippers. (Maybe high-tech polymer sneakers would be more fitting in this case.) Scott McKnight is definitely a handsome, gentleman prince, on and off his royal basketball court.
Yes, their modernized love story is easily recognizable and inviting. Never mind that it trims the bad guys down to one manipulative godsister, doing away with the idea of the wicked stepmother altogether.
For all of its positives, though, this happily-ever-after yarn proffers a kingdom where it’s quite acceptable for maidens to slip in and out of the prince’s bedchamber. Even our goodly heroine finds herself between his sheets while the sporting lord of the realm tries to figure out which lass will end up with his crown.
Some may say that slip in virtue is only a small blunder in an oft-told tale. I say it’s a disappointing update. It certainly muddies the happy ending and mocks all those admirable moments of love and integrity family viewers will also take away from it.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
