Love and Basketball is broken into four quarters (it's a basketball movie, get it?), but it's still a three-act, boy-gets-girl-boy-loses-girl-boy-gets girl narrative. Not that there's anything wrong with that, though, particularly when it's handled as well as screenwriter and director Gina Prince-Bythewood does here.

The first quarter begins when 11-year-old Monica moves next door to Quincy. She challenges him to a game of basketball and proceeds to school him until he pushes her down. But fighting is just a prelude to a first kiss which, humorously, is just a prelude to more fighting. The second quarter finds our couple in high school. He's on his way to big-time college basketball, while she's just hoping to be recruited; but the real question is how long it'll take these next-door neighbors to find out they love each other. The second half will move to college and then to the "real world." Along the way, there'll be more basketball, love, sex, jealousy, betrayal, and all the plot twists the three acts demand.

There's nothing new here, and, in fact, some of the narrative turns are fairly predictable (the injury to a fellow player is right on time). But Omar Epps (Mod Squad), as the older Quincy, and Sanaa Lathan (The Best Man), as the older Monica, have such good chemistry together I didn't care at all. Lathan is particularly good as a young woman who finds her self-esteem and motivation in her sport but can't seem to accept her beauty (outer or inner). When she puts on a dress for the Spring Dance, Lathan's body language is perfect; and when she shyly tells Quincy to "come on" to her bedroom, the audience can feel both the trepidation and excitement in her voice.

The supporting cast of Alfre Woodard, Dennis Haysbert, Debbi Morgan, and Kyla Pratt all do a fine job. It's particularly gratifying to see these honest and sensitive portrayals of African-American families. Love and Basketball may not break any new ground, but, like the tulips around the neighborhood, it's always nice to see something pretty, even if we've seen it before. 

J. Robert Parks 4/25/2000