Combining two things we were all dying to see combined: gender play and basketball!
Juwanna Mann is a 2002 American Romantic Comedy / sports drama film directed by Jesse Vaughan.
Jamal Jeffries (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.) is a Jerkass basketball player who gets banned from the league for bad behavior, and loses all his money and fame, with even his agent Lorne Daniels (Kevin Pollak) giving up on him. His Aunt Ruby (Jenifer Lewis) ends up being the only person who doesn't abandon him.
He needs to figure out a way to get back to playing basketball, but how? Enter Juwanna Mann, Jamal's female disguise so he can pretend to be a woman to play for the WNBA! Jamal's plan seems to work but things start to get complicated once her starts bonding with his female teammates, particularly Michelle (Vivica A. Fox) whom he falls for. Complicating things, even more, is her boyfriend Romeo Ginuwine and his obnoxious friend Puff Smokey Smoke (Tommy Davidson) who ends up falling for Juwanna.
Juwanna Mann contains examples of:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Puff falls for Juwanna hard, and comes on to her just hard, much to Jamal's constant disgust. And even when Puff finds out Juwanna is Jamal, he's still in love with him. It might be an homage or reference to the famous ending of the 1959 screwball comedy, Some Like It Hot but one would have to check with someone who worked on the film for confirmation.
- The Ace: For all his Jerk Jock behaviour, Jamal is extremely talented at basketball. Michelle is also the star player for her team, though she's not on Jamal / Juwanna's level.
- Artistic License – Sports: Any real-world team/league would've insisted on a physical, especially for such an unknown entity as Juwanna Mann, and then there's the fact that, you know, she has an Adam's apple. Even if the team would be willing to let it slide, their insurance carrier wouldn't. That would've scrapped the whole scheme then and there. Not to mention media and fans just accepting that this elite-level woman just bamfed in from literally nowhere (that's aside from the Clark Kenting factor). No college tape, no high school records, no nothing. They don't even try to dig up dirt on "her" even after she becomes a sensation.
- Big Fancy House: At the start of the film, Jamal lives in a fancy mansion where he throws regular parties. But he was so Money Dumb that he's forced to auction it off soon after getting suspended.
- Blackmail: Jamal blackmails Lorne into going through with his Disguised in Drag plan by tricking him into hiring him, since if Lorne backs away, it'll damage his reputation.
- Blind Date: Michelle sets up Juwanna on a blind date with Puff, which Jamal's naturally incredibly annoyed by. But he's even more annoyed the blind date also involves seeing Michelle with Romeo, since it's a double date.
- The Casanova: Romeo is a suave ladies' man, who manages to seduce even the strung-up Michelle. Unfortunately for her, he's not the loyal type, as she finds out when she visits his house by surprise and finds him in bed with another woman.
- Clark Kenting: Jamal's disguise as a "Juwanna" is comically inept at hiding his features, (being mostly just a wig and fake boobs) yet nobody recognizes him, or the fact Juwanna's not a woman. He barely disguises his voice, too.
- Cluster Bleep-Bomb: Jamal's press interview where he's supposed to apologize ends with no apologizing whatsoever, with him cursing out the league commission for a perceived insult.
- Defiant Strip: When the coach benches Jamal at the start of the movie for his unsportsmanlike behavior, Jamal decides to protest by taking off his team's jersey and heading to the locker room, but when the spectators boo him for this, he decides to go further and take off the rest of his branded clothing too, even the jockstrap, right in front of the cameras and the crowd. This indecent exposure incident is the final nail in the coffin of his career and gets him permanently suspended.
- Dirty Old Woman: One of Aunt Ruby's friends is a horny old lady who keeps groping Jamal against his will, which is played for laughs.
- Disguised in Drag: The premise of the film. Jamal was suspended from playing basketball as a man, so he disguised himself as a woman so he could play on the female team, with nobody the wiser.
- Dramatic Irony: Jamal blows his chance to lift his suspension when he misses the NBA staff meeting to attend the Banshee's game as Juwanna because he cares about the team more than his career as Jamal, which ends up with him being exposed. The ignorant commissioner even believes at a subsequent meeting that this means Jamal will always be a selfish and irresponsible ass, not knowing that him changing is exactly why he missed the meeting.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Played for Laughs. When Jamal does his Defiant Strip in front of the crowd, most people there are scandalized. Cue one shot of a young woman who's smiling appreciatively instead.
- Failed a Spot Check: Like any work of fiction that has this same premise (a man pretending to be a woman), no one notices Jamal's Adam's apple, which should have immediately given away the ruse, but it's standard for this trope so no one in this film does so.
- Fake Boobs: Part of Jamal's Disguised in Drag scheme involves putting on fairly large fake breasts, for no other reason other than the several gags it causes when he has trouble keeping them in place.
- Gold Digger: Jamal's girlfriend is openly only with him due to his money, which is why she ignores how often he cheats on her and his misbehavior in general. The moment his career looks over, she bails on him.
- Groin Attack: Juwanna knees Puff in the crotch when he tries to force a kiss on "her".
- Heel–Face Turn: Jamal goes from annoying and boastful to actually kind of likable and respectful. He even interacts with fans better.
- Hypocrite: So it's totally okay for Jamal to cheat on his girlfriend and treat other women like pieces of meat, but when another man does it to him or does it to a woman he likes, then he's offended. Although this occurred during Jamal’s gradual Heel–Face Turn
- Informed Flaw: Jamal is clearly not that satisfying in bed. When he asks his ex-girlfriend if she'll miss his good loving, she responds, "I packed it! The batteries, too!" Later, as Juwanna, while the ladies are agreeing with most of his advice, he seems to give himself away by saying, "It's not the size of the boat, but the motion in the ocean!" None of the other women agree.
- Intimate Lotion Application: Michelle asks Juwanna (who unknown to her is actually Jamal Disguised in Drag) for help rubbing some lotion on her shoulders, and "she" is all too happy to oblige, both to keep the disguise and for perverted reasons.Michelle: [as he rubs the lotion] I just get so stiff sometimes after the game. Do you?
Juwanna: I'm starting to. - It's All About Me: Jamal starts the film being an incredibly arrogant, selfish, and egotistical individual who belittles everyone around him. It's not until he takes a Humble Pie after losing everything that he starts to get better.
- Jerk Jock: What sets the whole movie in motion is Jamal's unsportsmanlike conduct. He's a massive Jerkass to his rivals, colleagues, and even his own fans and it gets so bad that he's banned from the sport despite being an ace player.
- Jerkass: Jamal is an obvious example. He sexualizes women and is an obvious misogynist, but he doesn't like being hit on by men he doesn't find attractive. Double standard much? Also, Romeo and Puff. None of the men in this movie are likeable at all and treat women with little respect.
- Karma Houdini: As the examples in Easily Forgiven stated, Jamal should have faced serious repercussions for the things he did in the movie.
- The Leader: Michelle is the captain of Charlotte Banshee's basketball team, not only because she's their star player but because she knows how to lead and talk to the other players, to the point she actually manages to teach Jamal (as Juwanna) about the value of teamwork, something no other player or coach ever did.
- Living a Double Life: At first, Jamal's Disguised in Drag scheme doesn't interfere with his life since he has nothing else going on, but when the NBA decides to lift Jamal's suspension, he has to choose between abandoning the female basketball team he became invested in while they're the middle of the season, or end the charade and come back as Jamal.
- Lousy Lovers Are Losers: When Jamal's Gold Digger girlfriend dumps him for being poor, he tries to convince him to stay for all the "good loving" she was getting from him, but she laughs and mocks his sexual prowess by insinuating the only "good loving" she ever got was from her vibrators.
- Love at First Sight: Puff falls for "Juwanna" the moment he lays his eyes on "her".
- Love Interest: Michelle is set up as Jamal's love interest, with the drama coming from the fact they get close while she thinks he's Juwanna. She's disgusted when he gets exposed, but forgives him by the end, and the film ends with them making up and kissing.
- Mess of Woe: Jamal's room becomes an absolute garbage-filled mess when he falls into a depression for being exposed as Juwanna and ruining his team's trust and reputation.
- Modesty Bedsheet: When Michelle finds Romeo having sex with another woman, both he and the woman are under the bedsheets, hiding all the "action" from the audience.
- Money Dumb: Despite all the money he got from his tenure as a star basketball player, Jamal quickly realizes he's almost broke after getting suspended since he spent all his money on frivolities and didn't save anything.
- Nephewism: Aunt Ruby is Jamal's only parental figure since he was a little boy, and the one he has to crawl back to after he loses everything.
- Non-Nude Bathing: When Jamal / Juwanna has no choice but to use the shower with the other girls, he decides the best way to do it is to just shower with his jersey on, telling the girls that is a superstition of his to never take off the jersey after a winning a game. Later, we see that all the girl adopt the "ritual" and start doing the same.
- Not What It Looks Like: When Lorne finds out that Juwanna is actually Jamal, he tries to wrestle the contract from him. His receptionist walks in on what looks like the two having sex.
- One Season Athlete: Juwanna becomes this for the WNBA, thanks to actually being a former male star basketball player who is disguised as a female rookie.
- Only Sane Woman: Aunt Ruby. She seems to be the only one who recognizes that his charade will unravel eventually. She also sets him straight when he starts talking about his romantic feelings for Michelle by reminding him that "She doesn't want you, she wants a girlfriend!"
- The Peeping Tom: Despite being worried about being exposed, Jamal doesn't miss the chance to "check out the booties" of his female colleagues in the locker room or the showers.
- Please Put Some Clothes On: After Jamal's outburst, he strips down to his jockstrap and then throws it into the crowd. who mostly reacts with disgust... except for a few girls who are Eating the Eye Candy.
- Sassy Black Woman: Aunt Ruby is a bossy and sassy black woman, and the only person who Jamal respects and is bossed around by.
- Self-Proclaimed Love Interest: Puff to Juwanna. Seriously, why can't he get the hint that she's not interested?
- Shoulders-Up Nudity: When the female players are changing or showering in the locker room, the camera makes sure to stay above the girl's shoulders.
- Shower Scene: There are a few scenes that take place in the woman's shower room, though the girls are either clad in towels or are shot with Shoulders-Up Nudity or Toplessness from the Back. Jamal naturally tries to avoid showering with the girls as best as he can, though he doesn't mind peeping when he has the chance.
- Shower Shy: As Juwanna, Jamal pretends to be shy about showering with the other female players, with the real reason being that showering with them will obviously reveal he isn't a woman. The one time he's forced to, he showers with his clothes on.
- Southern Belle: How Jamal hides his male-sounding voice; he throws on a thick Southern accent and tries to lighten his tones when possible, but when he gets agitated by his Abhorrent Admirer, occasionally he uses his normal speaking voice by accident.
- Statuesque Stunner: One of the reasons Puff is so attracted to Juwanna is because of how "tall" she is.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Right after winning the game, Juwanna ends up being exposed as Jamal when the wig of his disguise accidentally falls off in front of the camera, naturally shocking everyone.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: In the locker room when Juwanna is changing, her "breasts" somehow fly to the window and stick there. She manages to grab the prosthetic before Michelle or the coach notice it.
