Movie Love Jones
In Libman
Love Jones had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 1997,[5] and was released in the United States on March 14, 1997, by New Line Cinema. Although the film received favorable critical reviews, it was not a financial success. It is Theodore Witcher's only directorial work to date.[1]
In Chicago, Darius Lovehall is a poet who is giving a reading at the Sanctuary, an upscale nightclub presenting jazz and poetry to a bohemian clientele. Shortly before his set, he meets Nina Mosley, a gifted photographer. They exchange small talk, and Darius makes his interest clear when he retitles his love poem "A Blues For Nina". A mutual attraction is sparked between them. Darius runs into Nina for the second time at the record store and asks her out for drinks. Nina tells him it's bad timing, but Darius doesn't want to take no for an answer. He talks his friend Sheila into letting him copy Nina's address from the check she wrote, goes to another record store to get the CD she was looking for and then shows up at her place unexpectedly to deliver the CD and ask her out for a second time. They have sex on the first date, but neither Darius or Nina are sure what to do next. Nina has just gotten out of a relationship and is unsure if she still cares for her old boyfriend; Darius, meanwhile, is unsure about whether or not to admit that he really cares for Nina.
Just as Darius dares to begin believing that Nina could be "the one," Nina's ex-beau Marvin invites her to join him in New York to try to work things out. After a night with Darius, Nina tells him that she is going to New York because of unfinished business. More as a test of Darius' feelings than as an earnest attempt to resolve things with Marvin, Nina leaves, only to return to find that Darius has been fooling around with another woman. At this, Nina steps out with Darius' self-satisfied buddy Hollywood, sparking a blowup between the men and a reconciliation between the lovers, which does not last, requiring yet another separation and subsequent attempt to set things right.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 76% approval rating based on reviews from 29 critics, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The consensus summarizes: "An endearing romance that puts a fairly fresh perspective on familiar framework, Love Jones is worth falling for."[8] On Metacritic it has a score of 65% based on reviews from 22 critics.[9] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on scale of A to F.[10]
Roger Ebert gave the film a score of three out of four stars, and expressed the view that "There is also a bow to the unconventional in the ending of his film. Many love stories contrive to get their characters together at the end. This one contrives, not to keep them apart, but to bring them to a bittersweet awareness that is above simple love. Some audience members would probably prefer a romantic embrace in the sunset, as the music swells. But Love Jones is too smart for that." He also noted on the acting: "It's hard to believe that Tate--so smooth, literate and attractive here--played the savage killer O-Dog in Menace II Society. Nia Long was Brandi, one of the girl friends, in Boyz n the Hood. Love Jones extends their range, to put it mildly".[11]
James Berardinelli, writing for ReelReviews, also awarded the film three out of four stars, writing that "There are several reasons why this film works better than the common, garden-variety love story. To begin with, the setting and texture are much different than that of most mainstream romances. The culture, in which post-college African Americans mingle while pursuing careers and relationships, represents a significant change from what we're used to. The Sanctuary, the intimate Chicago nightclub where Darius and Nina meet, is rich in its eclectic, bluesy atmosphere. And Love Jones's dialogue is rarely trite. When the characters open their mouths, it usually is because they have something intelligent to say, not because they're trying to fill up dead air with meaningless words".[12][13]
The film was released on VHS by New Line Home Entertainment.[14] It later received a standalone DVD release,[15] as well as a New Line "double feature" DVD release, the latter of which also included the 1996 film A Thin Line Between Love and Hate.[16]
Darius Lovehall: Say, baby... can I be Your slave? I've got to admit girl you're the shit girl... and I'm digging you like a grave. Now, do they call you Daughter to the Spinning Pulsar... or maybe Queen of 10,000 moons? Sister to the Distant yet Rising Star? Is your name Yemaya? Oh, hell no. Its got to be Oshun. Oooh, is that a smile me put on your face, child... wide as a field of jasmine and clover? Talk that talk, honey. Walk that walk, money. High on legs that'll spite Jehovah. Shit. Who am I? It's not important. But me they call me brother to the night. And right now... I'm the blues in yourleft thigh... trying to become the funk in your right. Who am I? I'll be whoever you say? But right now I'm the sight-raped hunter... blindly pursuing you as my prey. And I just want to give you injections... of sublime erections... and get you to dance to my rhythm... make you dream archetypes... of black angels in flight... upon wings of distorted, contorted... metaphoric jizm. Come on slim. Fuck your man. I ain't worried about him. It's you who I want to step to my scene. 'cause rather the deal with the fallacy... of this dry-ass reality... I'd rather dance and romance your sweet ass in a wet dream. Who am I? Well, they call me Brother to the night. And right now I'm the blues in your left thigh... trying to become the funk in your right. Is that all right?
One great example of this is the 1997 film, Love Jones. Released March 14, 1997, the romantic drama starring Nia Long and Larenz Tate that cost approximately 10 million dollars to make went on to gross an unimpressive $12,782,749 worldwide at the box office. Just meagerly surpassing the breakeven mark.
But where Love Jones fell short in box office success, it more than made up for in cultural appeal and significance. Now 20 years later, the film once thought to be a risk to make is now viewed as a black cinema classic with a cultish following of enduring fans from nearly every age group.
Love Jones was the first film that I saw that was centered on the lives of young black artists. Historically black films resort to the typical images of athletes, attorneys and doctors and well to do--corporate types when depicting black professional life. But Love Jones took a different path. Desiring to tell a different story of black life the main characters of Love Jones were young creatives who made a living by producing art. This made a huge impression on me as a teenager wrestling with my own artistic interests and sense of place in world. Just seeing images on the big screen of young adult black people striving to make an artistic contribution to the world through photography and poetry gave me life.
But it should be said that Love Jones was not a fairy tale or romanticized story of artistic life. Both Nina and Darius were careworn artists, one unemployed and the other struggling to finish a book manuscript. This makes Loves Jones as much a story of artistic persistence as it is a story of romantic love.
But fans should be clear that this is no substitute for a sequel nor is it a musical retelling of the 1997 film. Many of the characters and storyline are different. And almost none of the classic quotes of the film are included. Mostly the production is a high quality musical tribute to Love Jones made for those who still love the film and good soul singing.
My viewing experience with love jones would only occur in February of this year when a friend and I challenged ourselves to spend the month watching romance movies beyond the run-of-the-mill classics like When Harry Met Sally. Two weeks in, and I found myself up at 2 am pressing play on the film I had promised myself to watch a decade prior, and in the same way one becomes infatuated with the feeling of love, I became infatuated with love jones.
I'm telling you, out of all of the Black movies that I'm a fan of, Love Jones continues to remain at the top of my list. It's so real. It's so relatable. It's so Black. And that is why, when I heard that it was a new Netflix feature, I asked my editor if I could pen a piece on why it's the kind of timeless classic that should warrant cozying up on the couch with your boo, having some of your girls over to watch it while sipping a little wine or introducing it to a college student who thinks it's too old to be personally relevant.
I can't remember exactly where I saw or read it, but I do know that many women have praised the kissing skills of Larenz Tate (Vivica especially shouts his skills out on Sway right here). As far as the first kissing scene in Love Jones, it was so magnetic that it earned an honorable mention in The Atlantic's "Actually, Kissing Is Good" article. I get it too. Honestly, if I had to provide a list of some of the best sex scenes in a movie, Love Jones would go on that list. Nia and Larenz have some off-the-charts chemistry and, whenever I watch the movie, I must admit that it takes me back to some of my own experiences in real life (le sigh).
But about halfway into the movie, you know what else happens? I am reminded of why I thought it was important to pen articles like "Don't Mistake A Great Sex Partner For A Great Life Partner" and "Experts Believe Passion (Not Love) Makes Sex Better. You Agree?". If you pay really close attention to how everything played out, you'll notice that a lot of what Darius and Nina shared was passion. It was really after breaking up and experiencing some independent growth that they got to the healthy love portion of the program.
Nina, boy. Her homie Josie was her girl and everything, but that advice she gave Nina regarding telling Darius about seeing Marvin to see if Darius would get jealous is emotional manipulation 101. So was Nina going there, coming back and trying to jump bad about Darius hanging out with his something-to-do-sometimes "friend", Lisa. Then, once they worked through that, Nina picked another fight over Lisa calling Darius even though Darius never asked about her kicking it with her ex or her dating his homeboy Hollywood. The games we play, y'all.
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