Love & Basketball

Starring: Omar Epps, Sanaa Lathan, Alfre Woodard, Dennis Haysbert, Regina Hall, Gabrielle Union
Directed by: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sport
2000

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Quincy (Omar Epps) and Monica (Sanaa Lathan) grew up together and bonded over basketball. Their relationship evolves over the years as they both seek to make it big in the sport they love.

Review:

Tim: I first tried to watch Love & Basketball about ten years ago. I just couldn't get into the film, so I gave up (something that rarely happens). Quite a while later, I finally decided to give it a second chance. I still don't love the film, but it's not as bad as I feared. This is a movie is fairly average in every sense. There's a few things to like and several things not to.

The basic story is interesting, and it reveals that the title is very appropriate. This is a movie equally about love and basketball. We're introduced to our two main characters, Quincy and Monica. They grow up as children next door to each other, bonding over their love for basketball- and their love for each other. The movie follows these two throughout their lives- as they grow closer together, move farther away, and both work hard to achieve their lifelong dreams of playing basketball at the highest levels. It's an interesting way to structure the film, and it feels different, as there aren't a lot of movies like this.

My biggest problem with the film is that I never loved the characters. Quincy is just an arrogant, selfish person. I did not care about his character in the least. Monica was slightly better. I liked them together, but I kind of realized that they probably shouldn't be in a relationship. That undermined the majority of the events of the film. By not giving us characters we could truly care about, it's really difficult for this movie to be worth our time. I appreciate the film giving us complex, complicated characters, but we needed more of a reason to be invested in them.

The story unfolds in a plodding manner. This movie is ridiculously long at 124 minutes (the film should have clocked in around 110). It just isn't an easy film to sit through. It's too long, and features long stretches where the events on screen are just average. There's not enough in this film to hold your attention. That is partially due to the lackluster characters, partially due to this being director Gina Prince-Bythewood's feature film directorial debut. That's exactly what this movie comes across as- an average effort from an average director who doesn't have much experience. There were certainly opportunities to make this a very good movie, but Prince-Blythewood never captializes on them.

The basketball scenes were average at best. There were a few fun moments on screen, but nothing particularly memorable. There's one instance- the big championship game in Europe- when the film fast forwards and skips the entire game. That felt like a cheap trick- likely due to budget constraints (and maybe the already bloated run time). I wish the movie had cut less effective scenes to have more time where it mattered). I also thought the end of the film was cheesy and weak. It made sense and I suppose it was cool to see the story come full circle, but I just laughed at the weakness of the finale. It was a disappointing end to a disappointing film.

The cast is average. I've always liked Omar Epps, and I thought he did a decent job. He's saddled by an unlikable character, but he works well with what he had. I didn't think Sanaa Lathan was a real actress at all. She does nothing especially well and gave a very boring, forgettable performance. I did love seeing Dennis Haysbert here, but I wish he was a bit more likable. Gabrielle Union doesn't have a chance to add anything to this film. As a whole, there's not a single standout in the cast.

I know I'm being very hard on this movie. I do want to stress that Love & Basketball isn't a bad movie. It is fun to see a film that is so focused on telling a love story and a basketball story simultaneously. There's not a lot of films like this, so I appreciate the uniqueness of the story. Unfortunately, the execution is lacking in nearly every facet. This is a completely average movie- not a lot of highs and only a few real lows. Still, no movie wants to wrap up average.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: For Love of the Game, He Got Game