Couple au défi

Very well written, cleanly told, the story of relationships in the year 2000 reveals that things really have not changed radically, but instead have only evolved slightly. Centering on a relationship that is nominally black, it could have been refitted as any ethnic group without changing it in any vital way. Snipes proves he is a great actor, Sanaa Lathan shows that she has tuned and toned her skills during the last five years and is ready to join the ranks of the "name" actors, and the supporting cast behaves almost flawlessly.

Finally this movie has arrived in the United Kingdom after much good reviews from the United States.

Snipes and Lathan give great performances. Director Bythewood certainly keeps the movie at the right pace, hard to believe this is her second picture after "Love and Basketball" We should all expect great things from her in the future. I enjoyed this having read the book by Terry Macmillan. Beautifully shot and acted, could have done with deeper roles for John Amos and CCH Pounder but above all a good picture. 8/10

The story of two mismatched star-crossed lovers that try to make it all work until... Real love, Real life a sub theme of the movie tells the story. As has been showing up in the movies lately a great trend of showing the realities of middle class African Americans without the violence or gang nature of past films. The movie was a very good depiction of the bestseller novel of the same name written by Terry McMillian. As in her other movie depictions the sub-characters are 1-dimensional but the main characters are fully 3-dimensional. Wesley Snipes and Sanaa Lathan captured fully the spirit of Franklin Swift and Zora Banks of the book. They each turned them into visual believable characters that we had praise and sympathy for.

Thanks to HBO and Wesley's Amen Ra Productions we now have another African American love story. Love Jones lead the way and it took almost 3 years for Love and Basketball to follow. We want more!!!!

Sanaa Lathan continues to delight her fans by creating characters that are so real and approachable. She knows how to woo you in. The girl has skills, acting skills that is. This was a good vehicle for her sophomore leading role. Her commanding control of subtle use of facial expressions, sighs and body language are perfect for a part that calls for conveyance of thoughts without language. Again as in Love and basketball Sanaa goes beyond the basic 9-5 operation of the job, she put on 20 lbs for the role. (And still looked fabulous) This truly shows her dedication to her craft and desire to give her best. She again teams with director Gina Prince-Bythewood. I am officially classifying them as the "Dynamic Duo for the African American Woman in Film." Keep up the excellent work ladies, looking forward to your next project.

Wesley Snipes gave us another side of himself as well. I found more passion and venerability in this character than his Jungle Fever or Mo Better romantic characters. Clearly his line: `The love was always real Z. It still is so there is no bad timing' was the best line of the movie. It gave us hope for a new and improved relationship for Franklin and Zora.

As much as I love a good romantic comedy, I must say that it was refreshing to get ahold of a great romantic drama. Nice to see that sometimes things don't always go smoothly like in the movies, and that some films are in touch with the people of reality. I loved the love/hate relationship of Wesley and Sanaa. They both played the parts so well, and my goodness.... wash my eyes, ears, and mouth with soap, cause the love scenes were off the chain.

I love Sanaa for many reasons, and she didn't let me down in this film. Once again, good to see an empowered woman in a decent script. Also nice to see a brotha that's not some high powered exec being able to get with a good woman. I'm rather tired of the old sucessful young man with a snob, and falling in love with the girl next door. This new, up-and-coming women falling in love with the man who made her floors is unique and a winner.

Despite ups and downs, in which I'll admit, I was very into the film and the characters - I was very pleased with the movie at its conclusion. It was not an outrageously perfect ending like too many movies I've seen, but had a real life tone to it. A feel good movie in a very different way.

One of the aspects that really drew me into the film was the musical soundtrack and the excellent use of photography for the film. There were several key scenes in which I thought the photography was so instrumental in providing me the viewer a different view of situations. Bravo to all involved in that process. As well, the music was superb, with a lot of great slow jams.

This movie isn't for viewers who don't enjoy romance/drama... it was in some sense a bit much for me, but I still enjoyed the film very much. Gina - another great film, Sanaa - I enjoy no actress more, Wesley - came through in the clutch. 8/10

This was a well-made movie for those who want to see how a relationship is formed & broken.Wesley Snipes plays a struggling construction worker who one day wants to be a contractor falls for a music school teacher played by Sanaa Lathan who wants to be a singer.The two quickly fall for each other.But as the months go by,things fall apart as they both struggle to maintain their personal goals.Snipes shows in this picture that he can be very charming.It was good to see a softer side of his acting ability instead of the usual action-adventure he always plays.Lathan was very convincing in her part & I hope this movie will put her career up.A must see.