Love and Basketball is a sappy, unnecessarily sentimental, and clichéd film that saunters along aimlessly without ever making a convincing statement. The second half of the film sits on the bench for the remainder of its two-hour runtime, watching as the film attempts a faulty bounce-pass at romance and family values in the court of life. After all, cheering for the destined-to-be-annihilated-opponent at a Harlem Globetrotters game is no more pleasurable or upsetting than rooting for the destined-to-be-annihilated-opponent at a Harlem Globetrotters game.
We meet Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan), the young girl on the block who is as much a tomboy as her older sister is a beauty queen, as the "first section" (the movie splits itself into four quarters that are as evenly spaced in length as Muggsy Bogues and Gheorghe Muresan are in height) begins. She aspires to be the first female NBA player and will pursue a basketball career in the future. But first, she must resolve her mother's preconceived idea that a woman belongs in the kitchen rather than on the basketball court.
Monica quickly becomes welcomed in the community and befriends her next-door neighbour, Quincy McCall (Omar Epps), who aspires to be an NBA superstar. On the other hand, Quincy has the benefit of a parent who is also a member of the league that so many young people aspire to join. When the two grow up together, their romance disappears in and out, with everyone but the two young athletes painfully aware of their fate of belonging with each other. Due to other abysmal films like Drive Me Crazy and Whatever It Takes, certain partnerships have grown bored on screen, and this couple does nothing to wake up the system.
As the quarter's progress, the two children's identities change. Monica grows out of her over-aggressive, stormy tomboy persona and seeks a stable balance in life, while Quincy rejects the romantic, understanding qualities he inherited as a child and encourages his ego to take over. Any athlete who turns pro in the movies (Quincy joins the draft after just one year of college) will grow some self-importance. Any person who fails to gain recognition (Monica does not crack the gender barrier in the NBA) will become humbled and wise overnight.
When they get older, their clichéd lives are rounded out by family problems. Monica has to deal with her mother, who would rather see her in a gown and pearls than a jersey and a headband, and Quincy has to deal with his father's unbiblical actions with a female fan. These extra subplots add nothing to the film's two-hour runtime and could be discarded as quickly as Michael Jordan's baseball career.
The game of morality is the one area where the film does score points, at least sometimes. Gina Prince gives her mostly adolescent viewers a favour by introducing the young couple using a condom as they first engage in sexual activity. A slight focus is still placed on the importance of schooling, but this could be too little, too late to have a significant effect. Even having any favourable characteristics is preferable to having zero.
As you might have guessed, in Love and Basketball, the game of basketball takes a back seat to the game of life. While I commend the film for not relying on a spectacular last-minute buzzer-beater, which many too many movies these days do, I find it ironic that this film could be one of the few that may profit from such action.
