Mrs. Lodge Period 5
APLAC
12 February 2012
With March Madness approaching and Valentine’s Day around the corner, Gina Prince's film Love & Basketball, makes for the perfect date night. The romantic sports comedy threads love and competition seamlessly together. Quincy McCall (Glenndon Chatman and Omar Epps) and Monica Wright (Kyla Pratt and Sanaa Lathan) leave the audience believing that there truly is a meaning behind the idea of love at first sight.
According to dictionary.com love is defined as "a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person." The affection Q and Monica share towards one another is indefinable. They share not only a love for each other, but a love for the sport of basketball.
Gina Prince separates her film into four parts. Following the backdrop of basketball, each section is a quarter, as if the movie is a basketball game. The first quarter begins with 11-year-old Quincy playing basketball with two neighborhood friends. Monica and her family have just moved in down the street. Monica walks up the hill with her hair tucked under a baseball cap, so she looks like a boy. Quincy and his friends they let her play with them because they think she is a boy. When she takes her hat off and her hair falls down, the boys laugh, calling her names. "I bet she’s a scrub like Calvin" (IMDb). Little do they know that Monica is better than all of them. As the king of the neighborhood and son of an NBA star starts to realize that he is being out played by the girl next door, Quincy becomes humiliated. Being "dogged" by a girl is something that hinders their relationship throughout the film.
The second and third quarters focus on the rising affection between the star college athletes. Monica and Quincy both endure a new journey as they both accept offers to play basketball at the same college, USC. On the men’s side, Quincy is favored as the star athlete. On the women’s side, however, Monica must earn every opportunity on the court. Other players give her a hard time because she is lazy, but talented. "That's what you get for tryin' to show out freshman" (IMDb). Quincy begins to fall apart when he finds his father had an affair, while Monica doesn’t have time for his worries. She is spending more time in the gym practicing than with Quincy. As Q and Monica clash heads, the love they shared that used to be unbreakable, becomes something of the past. The stress of a division one student athlete and a love life, prove to be a difficult combination.
Love & Basketball makes for the perfect date night movie because of its life like emotional rollercoaster. As Quincy and Monica strive for each other’s love, they constantly are held back because their passion for basketball. "I can't be about you and all about ball" (IMDb). Just like in any other relationship there are obstacles to overcome. Quincy and Monica have had an endless amount of affection for each other ever since Monica embarrassed Q at the park, when they were eleven years old. "I've loved you since I was eleven years old, and that shit won't go away" (Script). The passion that Monica and Quincy feel for one another forces the audience to believe that against all odds, "all is fair in Love & Basketball" (IMDb).
With negative remarks from the New York post such as, "The strong cast is defeated by a labored, screenplay in this overlong, clunky love story" (Foreman), it is arguable that the elongated love story in Love & Basketball may have over shadowed its astonishing actors. Yet with a majority of critics having positive remarks on the film, I would agree with Boston Globe’s, Jay Carr, in the fact that "Love & Basketball is the cinematic equivalent of a high, arching rainbow of a three-pointer from midcourt" (Carr).
As the final buzzer sounds in the fourth quarter, it rings in a not only a new beginning for Monica and Quincy, but for all other loving couples as well.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/love
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0199725/quotes
http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/l/love-and-basketball-script-transcript.html
http://www.metacritic.com/movie/love-basketball/critic-reviews
Marissa, your review of Love & Basketball effectively used ethos, logos, and pathos, which influences me to put this movie on my must-see list. Your overall organization of the review enhanced your evaluation as well.
ReplyDeleteIn your augment of evaluation, your ethos showed through your understanding of the movie. You mentioned how the movie is organized like quarters of a basketball game. To me, someone who has watched the movie several times would comprehend the effectiveness that would have on an overall great movie.
The logical approach in your argument of evaluation enhanced the argument too. I thought it was an excellent idea to putthe dictionary definition of love because you later go on and write how Love & Basketball created its own definition behind the true meaning of love. However, I would suggest adding more reasoning why someone should watch Love & Basketball, which is my only criticism of your argument. For example, you could mention how the actors portrayed the characters and how the acting made for a great movie.
Your appeal to emotions was outstanding in your argument. A movie based on the idea of love and passion is highly enjoyed by most. As a basketball player myself, I was intrigued by the story too. Also, romantic films are one of my favorite genres.
All and all, I am glad I took the time to read your review of Love & Basketball. I definitely will be checking OnDemand for this movie. The organization of your argument flowed and the use of ethos, logos, and pathos convinced me that your opinion of Love & Basketball is valid.