Boogie

Just like hard work alone doesn’t win basketball games, Boogie verifies that good intentions alone don’t make a great movie.

Culturally specific yet thematically universal, this low-budget variation on the underdog sports saga conveys a heartfelt swagger, although it too often brushes aside its unique details in favor of a familiar coming-of-age trajectory.

In many ways, Queens native Alfred “Boogie” Chin (Taylor Takahashi) is similar to rebellious, hot-tempered teenagers you’d find anywhere, with dreams of NBA stardom on the basketball court. Except that because he’s Asian American, his opportunities are limited by perception.

“No one believes in an Asian basketball player. It’s a joke,” he’s told bluntly while training with his uncle. But Boogie’s ex-con father (Perry Yung) sees hoops as a way out of working-class Chinatown, pushing the youngster to earn a scholarship to a prestigious college program.

Burdened by unrealistic expectations, Boogie is enrolled in a prep school, where his new girlfriend (Taylour Paige) provides a calming influence. However, his future is compromised by clashes with his coach (Domenick Lombardozzi) and a heated rivalry with another trash-talking top recruit (the late Bashar “Pop Smoke’ Jackson).

Raw energy helps to compensate for some of the stilted dialogue, even as the film is heavy-handed in its broader effort to break down stereotypes.

The screenplay by rookie director Eddie Huang (whose memoir was adapted into the sitcom “Fresh Off the Boat”) effectively modulates works best in its more intimate character-driven moments off the court. One such sequence involves Boogie’s father re-watching Michael Chang’s win at the French Open tennis tournament from 30 years as a source of ancestral pride.

However, the film doesn’t offer much meaningful insight into the college recruiting process or the evolution of elite players. We’re left to blindly accept that Boogie is a budding superstar, because the on-court sequences aren’t compelling enough to show us.

First-time actor Takahashi has an appealing screen presence, yet overall his performance is rough around the edges, like the film itself. His unconvincing chemistry with Paige (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), who’s way too old to play a teenager, is hindered by the script’s narrative cliches.

Boogie is a reminder of the unifying power of athletics, especially among teenagers, but on a deeper emotional level, it clangs off the rim.

Rated R, 89 minutes.