LOVE JONES
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1997 Scott Renshaw
(New Line) Starring: Larenz Tate, Nia Long, Isaiah Washington, Bill Bellamy, Khalil Kain, Bernadette L. Clark, Lisa Nicole Carson. Screenplay: Theodore Witcher. Producers: Nick Wechsler and Jeremiah Samuels. Director: Theodore Witcher. MPAA Rating: R (profanity, sexual situations, brief nudity) Running Time: 105 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
Theodore Witcher's LOVE JONES won the Audience Award at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, which lately seems to be more of a general message on the state of cinema than a comment on a specific film. Last year's winner, THE SPITFIRE GRILL, was a maudlin contraption which was laudable for being a thoroughly decent redemption story. In the case of LOVE JONES, the Audience Award may have been sending a similar message about what they'd like to see more of. African-Americans in the movies have been either clowns, criminals or police captains so often in recent years that LOVE JONES -- a low-key comedy-drama about educated black artists -- was bound to strike a responsive chord. I can't help but wonder whether the Sundance audience was rewarding LOVE JONES itself or the idea of a film _like_ LOVE JONES. Make no mistake, Witcher's sophisticated romantic tale is exceptionally well-crafted and includes some appealing moments, but the script is sometimes lazy and not particularly interesting. It's a film with better intentions than results.
LOVE JONES is set in Chicago, where aspiring photographer Nina Mosley (Nia Long) has just broken up with her fiance. Nina resolves to avoid falling in love, but she doesn't count on meeting aspiring poet Darius Lovehall (Larenz Tate) at a jazz-and-poetry club. Though Nina initially resists Darius' advances, she eventually agrees to a date...which doesn't end until the next morning. Nina and Darius are soon involved in a sexual relationship which both parties insist is nothing serious, but all their friends are skeptical. The skepticism proves warranted when Nina's ex-fiance Marvin (Khalil Kain) decides he wants her back, and both Nina and Darius are unsure how to react. It is only when each suspects the other of being unfaithful to their non-exclusive relationship that they confront what their real feelings might be.
At its core, LOVE JONES is a spin on WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, a slick romantic comedy about smart people over-thinking their relationships, turning those relationships over and over with their friends, and trying to walk the fine line between friend and lover. It is fairly incidental to the story that these characters happen to be African-Americans, yet that doesn't mean that the film is color-blind, or that the characters talk like they just walked out of Eton. The scenes between Darius and his friends -- Savon (Isaiah Washington), Hollywood (Bill Bellamy) and Sheila (Bernadette L. Clark) -- have a low-key energy, sparked by the wit of their ritualized insults. The dialogue feels natural and authentic, and the performances are characterized by a convincing sense of familiarity which makes them even stronger collectively than individually.
If LOVE JONES had been a film about these characters just sitting around talking, I probably would have enjoyed it much more. The problem is that the plot _is_ essentially a re-hash of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, with relationships not nearly as compelling or funny. Darryl Jones contributes a wonderfully jazzy score, but that score infuses LOVE JONES with a languid pace, the effect of which is to make you as nonchalant about the fate of Darius and Nina's romance as they seem to be themselves. There is plenty of chemistry between Larenz Tate and Nia Long; there's just not enough drama. The entire arc of their relationship is drawn up in well-worn tropes: the meeting in a bar, the reluctant coupling, the jealously and conflict, even a mad rush by one lover to stop the other from leaving on a train. Even when Darius finally breaks down and confesses his love for Nina, there isn't a sense that there was anything at stake for these two. Their relationship seems just fine "just kickin' it."
That casual quality sometimes seeps into Witcher's plotting. Threads of sub-plots drift through LOVE JONES at regular intervals, and Witcher never seems interested in explaining them in any detail. Savon experiences marital difficulties, but we don't know anything about his wife and even less about their relationship; Nina has a brief fling with Hollywood, but we don't know why he seems so deliberately antagonistic towards Darius. The large supporting cast consists of faces and voices which don't develop into full-fledged people. They are more like background notes in a tone poem.
LOVE JONES is the kind of film I would like to encourage, but I find it hard to recommend it enthusiastically. It's respectable, it's admirable, it's smooth and smart and professional. It's just not particularly enjoyable. Audiences have been jonesing for characters like those in LOVE JONES, but they may be able to work up no more than a like jones for this film.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 jones towns: 6.
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