Love & Basketball Movie
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| Rating: |
  
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| Run Time: | 124 min |
| MPAA Rating: | PG13 |
| Released: | 2000 |
| Directors: |
Gina Prince-Bythewood |
| Genre/Type: |
Drama Romance Coming-of-Age Sports Drama Romantic Drama |
| Producers: |
Spike Lee Sam Kitt |
Plot Synopsis by Mark Deming
A young African-American couple navigates the tricky paths of romance and athletics in this drama. Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) and Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) grew up in the same neighborhood and have known each other since childhood. As they grow into adulthood, they fall in love, but they also share another all-consuming passion: basketball. They've followed the game all their lives and have no small amount of talent on the court. As Quincy and Monica struggle to make their relationship work, they follow separate career paths though high school and college basketball and, they hope, into stardom in big-league professional ball. Love and Basketball was the first feature film for writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood, who previously helmed several comedy specials for Dave Chappelle. Spike Lee co-produced.
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Back to the top Top Questions about Love & Basketball
"It takes my mind off of everything else going on in the world. It’s a place of peace for me."
No no no no no no no No no no no no no no No no no no no no no No no no no no no no No no no no no no no No no no no no no no No no no no no no no No no no no no no no No no no no no no no No no no no no no no No no no no no no no No no no ...
I love basketball because it is an exciting game. You can learn and teach life skills through the game. It can be a fast or slow paced game.
Cast
| Actors | Character | Born |
| Sanaa Lathan | Monica Wright | Sep 19, 1971 in New York, NY |
| Omar Epps | Quincy McCall | Jul 23, 1973 in Brooklyn, NY |
| Alfre Woodard | Camille Wright | Nov 8, 1953 in Tulsa, OK |
| Dennis Haysbert | Zeke McCall | Jun 2, 1954 in San Mateo, CA |
| Debbi Morgan | Mona McCall | Sep 20, 1956 in Dunn, NC |
| Harry J. Lennix | Nathan Wright | Nov 16, 1965 in Chicago, IL |
| Kyla Pratt | Young Monica | |
| Glenndon Chatman | Young Quincy | |
| Gabrielle Union | Shawnee | Oct 29, 1973 in Omaha, NE |
| Boris Kodjoe | Jason | Mar 8, 1973 in Vienna, Austria |
| Monica Calhoun | Kerry |
Back to the topReview
Review by Rachel Deahl
To call director Gina Prince-Bythewood's debut feature refreshing would be an understatement. This touching tale of two aspiring professional basketball players, who also happen to be childhood best friends and on-again-off-again lovers, deftly weaves the paths of its dueling stars into a warm and smart love story. In portraying the heartbreaking realities of a love affair threatened by competition and ambition (think A Star Is Born for basketball), Prince-Bythewood focuses more closely on the trajectory of her female lead (Sanaa Latham in a star-making performance), broadening the scope of her love story to include an examination of the role of women in sports. With stand-out performances from both Omar Epps and Latham as the athletic couple, Love & Basketball serves as a somber reminder of how few films exist (much less love stories, much less ones that focus on the female perspective) about multi-dimensional African-American characters outside the ghetto.
