Here are some customer reviews of
Love Jones
: "Love Jones" is a love story that will resonate with college educated African-American Gen-Xers. The "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back" storyline is simple and not new. The complexity comes in the portrayal of heartbreak, fear of commitment, disappointment with relationships (expectations versus real life), indecision, and the triumph of love through making oneself vulnerable-- all against a backdrop of intellectual, multi-faceted young African American professionals who are not the cookie-cutter types most commonly found in movies like "Booty Call". For those of us who were worn out with the portrayals of African Americans as 'hood dwelling gang members on crack, noble, long suffering Southern racism martyrs, or club hopping sex maniacs, this was a refreshing movie. It was one of my favorites for 1997-98, along with "Eve's Bayou" and "Soul Food." Nia Long and Larenz Tate have an on-screen sensuality that floats right off the screen. This is how truly free African American people love.
My reveiw may be bias due to the fact that I am a HUGE Larenz Tate fan! However, in and of itself this movie represents a positive vibe and depicts African-Americans in an ambitious and non-violent manner! I think the chemistry between Nia and Larenz was magical and their storyline was realistic in the sense that once a person experiences the "love jones" you can never completely shake that person from your system. In my opinion this movie spearheaded the poetry craze that started in jazz cafes and underground spots all over the country. The movie demonstrated that poetry can be sexy, romantic and mysterious. Kudos to this urban love story!
I could certainly watch this movie daily. Long, Carson, Tate, "Hollywood", and the others are characters that we all know at some point in our lives. The group seemed like they would be fun to hang out with. Like true friends should, they had no problems "checking" those who needed reality checks when their visions became impaired by love. It was nice to see a love story with normal, every day, urban African Americans that were believable and easy to relate to. I would like to see more movies of this type. Now, poetry/jazz hang out spots are my favorites! The soundtrack is a must!
Depending on your level of maturity will define whether or not you grasped what this movie was saying. When that love jones gets you...you're hooked. No matter where you go or who you're with, once you've been gotten...it's for good. The poetic theme was refreshing and entertaining and Nia and Larenz's chemistry was right on time. If you have Love Jones on VHS it's time to get the DVD because this joint is a keeper!
Love Jones is an excellent movie as it has a well written script plus talented actors. This movie is thoughtful, intelligent, and shows the usually unseen side of African American poetry clubs and circles. Furthermore, African Americans are portrayed as intellectual, successful, and positive rold models rather than the usual typecast shoot 'em up bang bang ganstas from Compton. Highly recommend it! END
|
