Love & Basketball (2000)
Monica and Quincy love and play basketball together through many life challenges from childhood to adulthood. (PG-13, 125 min.)
Showtimes
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
7:00 PM
Staff Picks Series
Every month a member of the Moxie staff picks a film that impacted their lives and we put it up on the big screen. The Staff Picks series is Free for Members.
May's pick was made by Lindsey Hansen.
"I love this film because I used to watch it all the time with my sister when we were younger. Of course, when we were younger we didn’t catch all of the nuisances of the film, but when I rewatched it recently, it’s so much deeper than I ever appreciated when I was younger. It digs deep into sports, sexism, and media. I personally think it’s a beautiful coming-of-age story that has so many layers. Also, the soundtrack is excellent."
Click here to read the full Q & A.
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. Aided by stellar supporting performances and an eclectic R&B soundtrack, Love & Basketball captures the intoxicating passions, heartbreaking setbacks, and sky-high ambitions that mark a young woman’s journey to the top of her game and to lasting love. [Criterion]
Starring: Sanaa Lathan, Omar Epps, Glenndon Chatman
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood
Genre(s): Drama, Sports, Romance
"A fresh, authentic take on passion, ambition and coming of age."
— Ann Hornaday, Baltimore Sun
"Lathan, charismatic and beautifully strong, holds the screen in every scene."
— Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
"The most passionate, clear-sighted movie ever made about women in sports."
— Amy Taubin, Village Voice
"The cinematic equivalent of a high, arching rainbow of a three-pointer from midcourt."
— Jay Carr, Boston Globe
"The humor is terrific, the cinematography has a burnished glow, and the score is lush."
— Desson Thomson, Washington Post
"Love and Basketball offers a rare gimpse into the life of female athletes, and Lathan's got all the right moves."
— Kevin Maynard, Mr. Showbiz
"Although the writing and the directing are smart and purposeful, the movie takes flight on the strength of its performances."
— Ernest Hardy, L.A. Weekly
"Too often dismissed as a soppy chick flick, the film is a drama that is clear-eyed and serious about female ambition and gender roles."
— Simran Hans, New Statesman
"Stylishly shot and bursting with visual and sexual energy, this is confident black women's film-making and an eloquent tribute to the girl with the permanently grazed knees -- and about time too."
— Geoff Andrew, Time Out
"It's a breakthrough movie with a breakout performance by Sanaa Lathan as a woman who resents having to choose between love and basketball, and wants both. You'll care whether she gets both because love counts for as much as basketball in this film."
— Jay Carr, Boston Globe
"Told largely from the point of view of the woman, this career-versus-love story still develops the perspective of the man persuasively, as Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps reveal their characters' motives with nuances of expression that transcend the dialogue."
— Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader
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