| Love & Basketball | |
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Film poster |
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| Directed by | Gina Prince-Bythewood |
| Produced by | Andrew Z. Davis Cynthia Guidry Spike Lee Jay Stern Sam Kitt |
| Written by | Gina Prince-Bythewood |
| Starring | Sanaa Lathan Omar Epps Dennis Haysbert Debbi Morgan Alfre Woodard |
| Music by | Terence Blanchard |
| Cinematography | Reynaldo Villalobos |
| Editing by | Terilyn A. Shropshire |
| Studio | 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | April 21, 2000 |
| Running time | 124 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million[1] |
| Box office | $27,728,118[1] |
Love & Basketball is a 2000 American romantic drama film, written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. This film stars Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan. It is the story of two next-door neighbors in Los Angeles, California who grew up loving basketball and, eventually, each other.
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Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps) have wanted to be professional basketball stars since they were kids. However, Monica has to work hard to establish herself, while Quincy was born with natural star potential. As the two struggle to reach their goals of playing professionally, they must also deal with their emotions for each other. The film spans roughly thirteen years of friendship between childhood sweethearts Monica Wright and Quincy McCall. Monica and her family move to Los Angeles in 1981 from Atlanta, Georgia, and become acquainted with their new neighbors the McCalls, a wealthy family due to Quincy's father Zeke being the star shooting guard for the San Diego Clippers. Quincy and Monica are drawn to each other, sharing a love of basketball. Quincy is shocked that a girl could ever love basketball as much as he does, and he is even more shocked when Monica plays so well. Although their first interaction results in Quincy angrily knocking her down during a game and accidentally scarring her face, they share their first kiss on the first day of school and the first quarter of the story ends with them fighting in the grass.
The second quarter of the story begins in 1988, when both Monica and Quincy are the respective leaders of their high school teams. Scouts have taken clear notice of Quincy, who many see as one of top prospects in the country. His popularity is evident on the court as well with several girls who attend his school. He still maintains a friendship with Monica.
Monica, on the other hand struggles with her fiery emotions on the court, which often result in technical fouls at critical moments of her games, getting benched, and eventually pushing away many scouting opportunities. She also struggles with the emotions she secretly still harbors for Quincy and how to express them when he is always surrounded by other girls. Eventually, Monica learns to control her emotions and leads her team to the state championship game, but does not lead them to a victory.
She recovers from the loss with the help of her older sister, Lena, who gives her a makeover and finds an attractive college friend Jason (Boris Kodjoe) to take her to the spring dance. Confident with a new look, Monica shows up to the spring dance and despite having a date of his own, Quincy comes to compliment her new appearance but doesn't hesitate to comment on her date. They are both visibly jealous and part ways. Later that night, they speak outside her window and reveal to each other how their dates didn't meet their needs. She lets him know that she has a letter from USC and insists that he open it. After the letter reveals that she has been accepted, he finally vocalizes that USC was also his choice. As they move in to congratulate each other with a hug, Monica mistakes the gesture as a kiss. Later that evening, the two have sex with each other in Monica's bed.
The third quarter follows Quincy and Monica during their freshman year at USC, where they manage themselves as athletes, students, and a couple. While Quincy finds instant success on the court, as well as more female admirers, Monica struggles for playing time. Her relationship with Quincy becomes strained as he struggles to deal with the media attention surrounding a paternity suit against his father, filed by a former lover. Quincy feels betrayed by his father for lying to him and threatens to leave school early for the NBA. Monica finally earns the starting point guard spot at the end of the season. However, Quincy believes that she didn't pay enough attention to him while he was having problems with his father's infidelity. With all of the things going on in Quincy's life he decides to break up with Monica and join the NBA draft.
The fourth quarter takes place during the early 1990s, a few years before the establishment of the WNBA. Monica's prospects for professional basketball lie exclusively in the IWBA, the International Women's Basketball Association, while Quincy realizes his dream of playing for the NBA. Monica settles into her new life in Barcelona as a local sports celebrity and the focal point of her team's offense. She misses home, but can't imagine a life that didn't include basketball. She leads her team to a dominant victory in the championship game at the end of the season. Despite personal success, she realizes her love for the game of basketball isn't the same as it was before.
Meanwhile, Quincy is now in his fifth year in the pros after leaving USC after his freshman season. A career journeyman and reserve, he finds himself trying to find a role with his new team, the hometown Los Angeles Lakers. He finally gets some playing time, but injures himself during a slam-dunk. His now divorced parents attend to him at the hospital. Monica hears about Quincy's injury, and flies home to see him. After she learns that Quincy is engaged and meets his fiancée, Kyra (Tyra Banks), she realizes that she is still in love with him.
Over the next few months, Quincy undergoes rehabilitation while the day of his wedding draws closer. By this time, Monica has decided to give up basketball, and when Quincy asks why she states that it is no longer fun for her. Quincy tells her he never knew anyone who loved basketball as much as she did. Later on, he and Monica meet up once again as friends and reminisce over their shared past. At this point, Quincy has recovered from his injury, and Monica finally steps up with an ultimatum. She challenges him to one final game on the court: if he loses, he calls off the wedding and chooses Monica; if not, he marries his fiancée. Quincy agrees and beats her in the game, but can no longer be apart from Monica and chooses her.
The film fast-forwards 2–3 years later to 1998. Monica has gone pro in the WNBA, which was created by the NBA in 1996. Now a member of the Los Angeles Sparks, she has married Quincy and uses the surname "Wright-McCall". The film ends with Quincy helping their baby daughter to cheer on Monica as she is introduced at a Sparks game.
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Love & Basketball received generally favorable reviews for its direction, cast, and storyline. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 82% approval rating.[2] On Metacritic, the film scored a 70 metascore—based on 28 reviews.[3] Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, says "The film is not as taut as it could have been, but I prefer its emotional perception to the pumped-up sports clichés I was sort of expecting. It's about the pressures of being a star athlete; the whole life, not the game highlights. I'm not sure I quite believe the final shot, though. I think the girl suits up for the sequel." Ebert gave the film three out of four stars.[4]
Film critic Desson Howe, of The Washington Post's Entertainment Guide, writes " 'Love and Basketball' had moments of such tenderness and sophistication, complimented [sic] by such romantic dreaminess between lead performers Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan. First-time filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood's film joins such films as The Best Man and The Wood, which look for the class, not the crass, in African American life." Howe gave the film 9.5 stars.[5]
Love & Basketball was produced on an estimated $15 million budget. In the opening weekend of its release, it was shown on 1,237 screens, and took in $8,139,180, opening at #2 in the North American box office, behind U-571. It would eventually take in a total of $27,459,615 at the box office.[1]
Love & Basketball was released on DVD in Region 1 on October 10, 2000 and in Region 2 on July 2, 2002; it was distributed by New Line Home Video.
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