| Reviewer Roundup |
| 1. |
 | Susan Granger |
| review follows |
|   |
| 2. |
| Harvey Karten |
| read the review |
| --- |
|
Review by Susan Granger
2½ stars out of 4
First-time feature film-maker Gina Price-Blythewood scores
with this romantic drama told in four quarters. Sanaa Lathan and Omar
Epps play two young athletes from Baldwin Hills, an upper middle-class
black neighborhood of Los Angeles. Friendly adversaries since
childhood, they share a mutual passion for basketball. In high school
and college, Epps is set to follow in the footsteps of his famous
father (Dennis Haysbert), an NBA player, while Lathan battles her own
inner conflicts involving the rough 'n' tumble reality and inequities
of women's ball. Conformity is an anathema to her. I found this
feminist aspect of the film particularly compelling since she's
struggling to become an independent woman, as opposed to the life
chosen by her more subservient mother (Alfre Woodard) who did not have
the same opportunities available to her. Then Epps must face his own
personal disillusionment - and becomes involved another woman, making
Lathan wonder if "being all about ball" is really worth the price that
must be paid. Quite simply: this is a coming-of-age saga in which
assumptions and idealism are challenged and re-focused - on the court
and off. Unfortunately, the predictable plot is tied up too
simplistically, like a contemporary Cinderella tale. But the
performances are uniformly good, particularly Sanaa Lathan who proves
herself an actress of formidable intensity. On the Granger Movie Gauge
of 1 to 10, "Love & Basketball" is an uneven but satisfying 6,
particularly as a date movie. Spike Lee, who serves as producer, has
introduced yet another exciting, new African-American film-maker in
Gina Price-Blythewood.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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out of 4
