This is a rather decent movie about the ups and downs in the relationship between Quincy (Omar Epps) and Monica (Sanaa Lathan), who meet at the age of 11 playing basketball, and whose lives intertwine from that point on, sometimes romantically and sometimes not.
I wasn't really expecting too much from the title, but this is pretty good. Epps and Lathan put on good performances, although both come across as strangely low-key, considering that they are the stars of the show. I was very impressed with Dennis Haysbert, who played Quincy's father Zeke McColl, a former professional basketball player who follows his son's career with interest, while struggling in his own relationship with his family. In a relatively minor role, I was impressed by Christine Dunford as Monica's basketball coach at USC.
The central focus of the movie, of course, is the relationship of Quincy to Monica. It's a wonderful tale of overcoming odds. But there are a number of sub-plots that are very interesting and take nothing away from the main storyline. The struggles of both Quincy and Monica as they pursue their respective basketball careers, and as they move in different directions - Monica becoming successful, Quincy struggling to make it; the troubled family relationships both have to endure, and in particular, Monica's with her mother, and Quincy's with his father. It all fits together very well. Yeah, the ending is a bit sappy and completely predictable, but otherwise, there's not much wrong with the story.
So, why do I only give this a 6/10? For whatever reason - and this is strange I admit because the story is interesting enough - I found that this movie really dragged. It seemed much longer than the two hours it's supposed to be, and in spite of the good story I did find myself checking my watch every now and then wondering how long it would go. I really can't explain that, but it did detract from my enjoyment of the movie.
I wasn't really expecting too much from the title, but this is pretty good. Epps and Lathan put on good performances, although both come across as strangely low-key, considering that they are the stars of the show. I was very impressed with Dennis Haysbert, who played Quincy's father Zeke McColl, a former professional basketball player who follows his son's career with interest, while struggling in his own relationship with his family. In a relatively minor role, I was impressed by Christine Dunford as Monica's basketball coach at USC.
The central focus of the movie, of course, is the relationship of Quincy to Monica. It's a wonderful tale of overcoming odds. But there are a number of sub-plots that are very interesting and take nothing away from the main storyline. The struggles of both Quincy and Monica as they pursue their respective basketball careers, and as they move in different directions - Monica becoming successful, Quincy struggling to make it; the troubled family relationships both have to endure, and in particular, Monica's with her mother, and Quincy's with his father. It all fits together very well. Yeah, the ending is a bit sappy and completely predictable, but otherwise, there's not much wrong with the story.
So, why do I only give this a 6/10? For whatever reason - and this is strange I admit because the story is interesting enough - I found that this movie really dragged. It seemed much longer than the two hours it's supposed to be, and in spite of the good story I did find myself checking my watch every now and then wondering how long it would go. I really can't explain that, but it did detract from my enjoyment of the movie.