She's Gotta Have It

Thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes in the quirky company of Spike Lee and his cast of weirdos. The male characters (Nora's three lovers) are all inadequate in their way, so it is hardly surprising that Nora needs several such men to satisfy her.

If men behave the way Nora behaves, it is seen as a sign of virility, whereas Nora is more or less sent to the shrink because her behaviour is so out of line.

But this is mostly comedy so you can put aside the "is it feminist, is it misogynist?" stuff and enjoy it for what it is - an unusually good low budget movie.

...for God's sake woman get rid of those candles! The idea of falling asleep with one hundred lit candles sitting directly on an extremely combustible wooden moon étagère would scare the crap out of me more than the idea of you needing more than one sexual partner! But I digress.

This was Spike Lee's first directorial and writing effort. Since this was Spike Lee BEFORE he was a brand name, nobody was going to cut him any financial slack in his filmmaking. He had to cut corners everywhere. He got his family into the act - one plays main character Nola Darling's best friend, another plays Nola's dad. And Spike Lee even acted in the film himself as Mars, one of Nola's three lovers. He managed to shoot the whole thing for 175000 dollars and grossed almost eight million at the box office. Who knows what he's made off of it due to cable broadcasts and home video.

The film explores the life of a young African American female artist, Nola Darling, living in Brooklyn, who has the same view towards sex and sexuality that many men have - she wants to play the field. She's not lying about anything, she just doesn't talk about any of the others to the one she is with at the time. Nola actually has three lovers - Mars - the fun and goofy one, Greer the sophisticate who hardly needs to eat because he is so full of himself, and Jamie, probably her soul mate. These guys rather meld into one entire man who is able to keep Nola happy. And then they find out about one another, with Jamie being the most wounded by the news.

Years before "The Red Pill" and "Men Going Their Own Way", that seems to be exactly what is going on with Nola, minus the bitterness. In fact, during the film she is torn between cutting herself off from men sexually for awhile - going her own way - and this Red Pill life in which there is no dishonesty but many lovers. Nola LIKES sex in and of itself, isn't looking to settle down, likes her Bohemian lifestyle.

For Law and Order fans, S. Epatha Merkerson shows up as Nola's therapist. The film was unique for its time because it had a completely African American perspective, was shot in black and white, had the characters talking to the camera about what they were feeling at the time, and had no pat answers, no neatly sewn up ending. As for me, I would have picked Mars. All he needed was a little career direction, and he was fun. But then I've always been a one man gal. I recommend it. I think you'll find it fascinating.

This is a completely unique, humorous, sexy film from Spike Lee -- his first cinematic effort, using his friends from NYU film school as actors. He himself plays the role of eccentric Mars, one of heroine Nola darling's three lovers. Though I'm sure Lee wouldn't describe himself as a feminist, this film looks at so-called "promiscuity" from a distinctly liberated point of view. Perhaps women need more than one man, he wonders, because it takes several men to make up a complete person! The film is set in a rarely seen milieu, that of artistic, well-educated, middle-class, quirky urban African-Americans (like the view of black Chicago in "Love Jones"). It would be fascinating from that standpoint, even it if didn't display such ruefully witty characterizations of egotistical, clueless men.

You could spend an afternoon in far worse fashion than to rent this film, and view Lee's naked talent shining through in a film whose cost probably wouldn't pay the catering bill for one of his film projects these days. The fact that it is filmed almost entirely in black and white adds to its authenticity and charm.

I remember when this movie came out. Not Spikes first film but first to gain him some attention. A very refreshing black and white low budget movie, probably one of Spikes most dedicated and best work. All characters well developed and script carefully written. A good film to watch on a lazy Sunday, showing scenes of Brooklyn as it was in the 80s.

In Brooklyn, Nola Darling dislikes commitment and she has three lovers at the same time. Jamie Overstreet is sweet and looking for a lifelong companion. Greer Childs is a self-obsessed model. Mars Blackmon (Spike Lee) is a loud-mouth childman. Nola, her friends and family narrate the movie talking directly into the camera. Opal Gilstrap is a lesbian who likes Nola. Her free-love policy runs into trouble when the three men discover each other's relationship with Nola.

This is Spike Lee's first full-length feature as a writer/director and he is also a major supporting actor. This announces the arrival of a new American cinematic voice. It's inventive and different. Sure the actors are mostly amateurs but everybody has a good charismatic energy. Spike Lee is bringing a lot of different elements into this movie. Most impressively, he has turned the normal sexual relationship between man and woman upside-down. It is a great debut and an imaginative indie.