At The Movies: Love and Basketball

Starring: Sanaa Lathan, Omar Epps, Deenis Haysbert, Alfre Woodard

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood

A twist on a classic love story about falling in love with your childhood best friend, Love and Basketball presents the conflicts between the love for the game of basketball and the love for another person. Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s first feature film, co-produced by Spike Lee, looks beyond the surface of a coming-of-age tale, and further explores a feminist view of the relations between women and the world of sport through the trials and tribulations her characters face.

Love and Basketball, which is respectively divided into quarters as per the basketball theme, starts with the ‘First Quarter’ – childhood. As a young Monica Wright into Baldwin Hills, LA., with her family, she introduces herself to three boys playing basketball and asks to play, only to have them discover that the new boy next door is in fact a girl. Despite their apprehension for allowing a girl on the court, Monica defiantly takes the court by storm and garners an unexpected friendship with Quincy McCall, after a flagrant foul on his part and a forced apology by his parents.

The ‘Second Quarter’ exposes Prince-Bythewood’s underlying political message that centers gender discrimination within the sports world, as well as in society as a whole. Stemming from childhood, characteristics of strength and stubbornness simultaneously overlap Monica’s emotional nature as the movie carries into young adulthood. As they grow up, both Monica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps) go on to lead their high school basketball teams, and struggle to be recruited by colleges. Love and Basketball further explores how gender roles are assumed within the family, as Epps’ character is encouraged by his father (Dennis Haysbert), to focus on his game, whereas Monica is ridiculed by her mother (Alfre Woodard) for her love of the game. As they grow through college, Quincy, the son of a prominent basketball player, is given his career on a silver platter, while Lathan’s character is required to work substantially harder to simply get noticed. Continuing into the ‘Third’ and ‘Fourth’ Quarters, the gender barriers become more evident as Quincy is signed to the LA Lakers straight out of college, and Monica’s only success is seemingly within women’s leagues abroad.

Throughout the movie, Monica and Quincy’s shared dream of big-league stardom coincides with the friendship and love they have for one another. Despite a number of challenges that strain their relationship, including timing which is rarely on their side, Prince-Bythewood’s characters never fail to fall back on each other in times of need. They confide in each other about the game, family problems, dating experiences, their happiness and their fears, only strengthening a bond and tending to a strenuous friendship and relationship, alike. Lathan and Epps’ chemistry on screen is undeniable, equaling that of their characters, which reflect an irrefutable love between Monica and Quincy that captures a series of heartfelt emotions as a viewer.

Love and Basketball acts as a façade to uncovering gender discrimination in sports, concurrently taking an in-depth look at the power of love and the challenges of achieving dreams. Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps equally offer a personal and emotional depth to their characters, but it is Lathan’s charismatic and passionate performance that upholds the storyline. However, Prince-Bythewood’s plot seemingly falters towards the end of the story, as the strong socio-political undertones loose luster and become a victim to a euphoric fantasy world. Nonetheless, Love and Basketball concerns overcoming hurdles, finding strength within self, and never loosing hope, whether that be in love or basketball.

82/100