2000 Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
Quincy McCall and Monica Wright grew up in the same neighborhood and have known each other since childhood. As they grow into adulthood, they fall in love, but they also share another all-consuming passion: basketball. As Quincy and Monica struggle to make their relationship work, they follow separate career paths though high school and college basketball and, they hope, into stardom in big-league professional ball.
Love and Basketball
Underdogs and coming of age Relationship comedy Moving relationship stories sports, team, coach, athlete or football surfing, teenager, friendship, adolescents or kids teenager, school, friendship, funny or nerds chemistry, hilarious, romantic comedy, sweet or humorous dancing, choreography, songs, tune or musical Show All…
the cost of loving an ambitious person! the cost of ambitious people loving each other!
One of the key studio movies of the 2000s, with maybe the best soundtrack of its time. Such a quietly confident debut that is so sure of what it wants to say about Monica. Also a notable entry in the “movies starring Omar Epps in which he plays a guy named Q” hall of game.
What impresses me most in this are the unspoken narratives: the difference between the way Quincy and Monica are treated throughout their careers speaks volumes about sports, sexism, and media. It's also strangely affirming that Monica is uncomfortable in a short dress; seeing a cisgender woman's unfamiliarity with certain feminine etiquette drives home the complexity of gender in a way that I appreciate. If a trans woman (or even a lesbian) were subject to the same characterization, it would feel like stereotyping. That a cisgender heterosexual woman is portrayed this way feels like it's breaking the stereotype, even if she is an athlete. Maybe it's just another, less familiar stereotype (to me), but it implies that such things aren't merely…
Yeah it's a very sexy movie ("double or nothing" is one of the most romantic lines maybe ever) and the leads are incredible but can we shout out the sexiest part, the filming of basketball.
I'm not a sports movie fan. Often the sport itself in these films is so perfunctorily shot that I just want it over to get to the interpersonal conflict surrounding the sport. But here holy crap is this a gorgeous way to shoot basketball that is so intimate and personal.
There's this incredible fluidity to the shooting as well as an insane precision to the moves. The way it weaves in perspectives. It's always close up, rarely relying on far away shots. And the editing…
"I've been in love with you since I was eleven, and the shit won't go away".
I love this movie. I'm certain I have watched it over a 100 times (exaggerating of course but the number is pretty high) and it never fails to amaze me. I love basketball! I love everything about it, but I have never seen this side of basketball before that includes two people sharing the same passion for it - and are also in Love with each other.
It's such a beautiful thing.
-Top 100
Ok, but first of all, what was it about the lighting in this film? I am not sure if it was the copy I got, but the lighting was so bright it gave this film almost a TV movie quality to it. Also, what's up with everyone here breaking an ankle every time they set foot on the court?
Beyond that, it was a sweet and engaging love story. Having the movie divided into four chapters was a great idea, especially the way it ended as it kept you in suspense. Sanaa and Omar's chemistry is the final element that makes this film so memorable, since you want them to be together, but you can also understand why they shouldn't…
Holds up well for the most part, though I could do without the cutesy "First Quarter" section with the two as children. I like how Epps and Lathan fall a little short of their aspirations as basketball players-- at one point, he goes down with a knee injury and she's off playing pro ball in Barcelona-- and that final one-on-one scene is lovely. ("Double or nothing.")
Sparks fly both on and off the court in this groundbreaking feature debut by writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Old Guard), which elevated the coming-of-age romance by giving honest expression to the challenges female athletes face in a world that doesn’t see them as equal. Sanaa Lathan (Alien vs. Predator) and Omar Epps (Higher Learning) make for one of the most iconic screen couples of the 2000s as the basketball-obsessed next-door neighbors who find love over flirtatious pickup games, fall apart under the strain of high-pressure college hoops and families, and drift in and out of each other’s lives as they pursue their twin aspirations of playing professionally.
Our edition of LOVE & BASKETBALL is coming September 21, 2021. Visit Criterion.com to learn more and pre-order.
me, rewatching as an adult and realizing how formative it was: oh...OH...OHHHHHHH OK
If I could play one on one with someone, for their love, life would be so much easier.
