Jonesing for Love - a Review of Love Jones

When it comes to movies about romance or relationships, I get a rash. Maybe not the kind that requires topical ointment and a shot, but my mood definitely clouds over. I'll cop to being a skeptic, but a hardened cynic? Hardly. It's just that I've witnessed far too many films in the romance genre that pander to the lowest common denominator. Films that drip with mawkish sentimentalism, blatant manipulation or unrealistic circumstances always conspire to render my eyes rolled in such perpetuity that one could mistake me for being in a constant state of orgasm. I wish. Instead, most of these movies just leave me even more depleted, world weary, and with the casing just a little harder than before.

Just so you don't think I'm biased against the genre, I firmly believe that if one can wade through most of the condescending swill out there, you'll find a gem or two. Amelie comes to mind, as does Moonstruck. When a friend recommended and practically gushed over Love Jones, I thought I'd give it a try.

Helmed by first time writer/director, Theodore Witcher, Love Jones centers on Darius Lovehall and Nina Moseley, played by Larenz Tate and Nia Long respectively. Nina is a struggling photographer who just recently ended a long-term relationship. Though she proclaims her days of romance over, Nina wastes no time in catching the eye of Darius Lovehall, a writer who regulars a beatnik poetry/jazz club. After some minor resistance from Nina, Darius succeeds in scoring a date with her. Larenz Tate plays Darius with enough aplomb without forgetting to show the glimpses of vulnerability underneath. After Nina leaves Chicago to pursue a second chance with her ex-boyfriend, Darius breaks and admits to his friend Savon (Isaiah Washington) that she was "the one". Realizing he wasn't ready to deal with that emotion, Darius immediately masks the statement with a hearty laugh, pretending the statement to be a joke. But what speaks the volumes is Darius' doleful, draining look when his back is to Savon.

Nina's attempt to reconcile with her old boyfriend eventually goes awry and she moves back to Chicago only to find Darius has moved on with another girl. I can continue detailing the seesaw plot line and the trite soap opera antics, but more of note is the solid performances by Long and Tate, not to mention a wonderful supporting cast that manages to keep the suds at bay. Nia Long imbues Nina with cool self-possession. As hackneyed set-ups go, photographing your lover is nothing new, but Long pulls off the seductive bit anyway, purring, "Take off your clothes". When Darius is taken aback and waxes shy at the request, Nina casually shoots back, "What's the matter? I already know what you got".

Though the script can be sharp at times, it can't save the movie from what's really ailing it. Love Jones is riddled with a cliched plotline that's aggravated by a torpid pace. Surely, Witcher's intent was to let the story breathe on its own and have Darius and Nina's relationship slowly unfurl, but it only succeeds to make the film's shortcomings more evident. It's a shame too, especially since this is one of the few black films that don't sacrifice characterization in order to peddle out the obvious stereotypes for a quick laugh. Love Jones is a showcase of a specific time and place populated with characters that are intelligent, flawed, ambitious and self-assured. And it succeeds with nary a trace of pedagogy, or without compromising the black experience by watering it down for a more mainstream audience.

Unfortunately the only thing watered down is the story itself. After noticing Darius fielding phone calls from a previous fling, Nina's distrust begins to mount and becomes the impetus for another break-up. By the time Nina moves out for good this time, Darius buries his nose in a book feigning a lack of interest; and unfortunately, by then, so had I.

For all that Love Jones has going for it - a shimmering soundtrack, a wonderful supporting cast, and a palpable chemistry between its two lead actors - it fails to rise above a wooden storyline. As such, the result is a mediocre movie whose potential of its characters aren't wholly realized, suppressed even. In a final impassioned plea to Nina who accuses him of impatience, Darius declares, "Right now, all that matters to me is this moment, and to me, that's motherf*cking urgent." Too bad the film didn't heed Darius' passionate words.