Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s 2000 feature film debut Love & Basketball is a charming romance sports drama that benefits from Bythewood’s natural-sounding dialogue and strong central performances from leads Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps.
The story, which is divided into four quarters like a basketball game, begins in 1981 when pre-teen Quincy McCall moves next door to Monica Wright (just as in Thornton Wilder’s classic play Our Town, their bedroom windows are directly opposite). In high school (when Lathan and Epps step into the roles), Q. and Monica are stellar basketball players whose shared love of the game ultimately flowers into teen romance.
Both have complicated relationships with their parents: Q. is driven to follow in the footsteps of his retired NBA star dad (Dennis Haysbert), while Monica feels out of sync with her suburban mom (Alfre Woodard), who cannot understand her daughter’s b-ball obsession. When Q. and Monica are both accepted to USC, they are able to continue their relationship and build their own sense of selves away from family. But Q. is devastated when he learns that his iconic father has been a philanderer and when Monica chooses a basketball commitment over consoling him, a wedge is driven between the pair.
Love & Basketball still feels fresh some 20 years later, with believable romantic developments off the court and thrilling action on the boards. And young women will be inspired by Monica’s passion to follow her dreams instead of simply becoming a male partner’s plus-one in life.
Presented with a 4K restoration, extras include two audio commentaries from 2000 (one featuring Prince-Bythewood and actor Lathan; the other with Prince-Bythewood, editor Terilyn A. Shropshire, and composer Terence Blanchard), a new “making-of” documentary featuring Prince-Bythewood, Lathan, Epps, Woodard, producer and writer Reggie Rock Bythewood, and basketball adviser Colleen Matsuhara; the featurette “Editing Love & Basketball" (with Prince Bythewood and Shropshire); a new conversation featuring Prince-Bythewood, WNBA legend and Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes, and writer-producer-actor Lena Waithe); deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by Prince-Bythewood and Shropshire; audition tape excerpts; two short films by Prince-Bythewood; and a booklet with an essay by author, professor, and social commentator Roxane Gay.
Recommended.