Love for Sale

It's interesting to see what has happened with smaller black films in just the last decade. In the nineties we had fluff like "Strictly Business" and "Trippin'," which were hardly masterworks of film-making, but at least these movies had decent production values. They were released in theaters because straight-to-video didn't exist in any significant way for black films at that time.

Fast forward 10 years later and anyone with a digital camera and about $50,000 can get a movie made. Independent film-making is now truly independent. "Love for Sale" is a product of this movement. The movie stars Jackie Long and Jason Weaver, both from "ATL," as cousins, Trey and Vince, respectively, working at a barbecue joint and looking for love in the streets of North Carolina.

Male viewers will no doubt be drawn to the movie because it stars former video vixen Melyssa Ford (Katherine) and R&B singer Mya (Keiley), both of whom headline the movie along with Jackie Long.

Melyssa plays an older, but not quite old, ex sorority girl who is feeling maturity set in as she goes through a separation with her husband. She's on the prowl for young studs and Trey fits the bill. This is the type of role Beverly D'Angelo made popular in the "Vacation" movies and Jennifer Cooledge solidified as a MILF in "American Pie." Unfortunately, Melyssa Ford is just too young and attractive to be playing spinster roles just yet. Melyssa is a lot of things, but desperate and clingy she is not (believably at least).

As luck would have it, Trey likes Keiley, who is nicely played by the relentlessly charming Mya. Mya is appropriately cast in this movie and does a very nice job with what little she's given. Her plot involves her being in an unhealthy relationship with a boyfriend she's had since junior high school.

"Love for Sale" suffers from a number or problems. It can't figure out its tone--is it a comedy or a drama? It has secondary story lines that are lifeless retreads of things we've seen before and that are completely uninteresting. Most importantly, "Love for Sale" lacks momentum or a compelling story line.

It has a few likable sections, such as the scene toward the end where Mya finally hooks up with the Trey character. But this movie, even for an independent effort, is inadequate in many respects. And this is coming from someone who enjoys even the most mediocre indies. Still, if you are a die-hard Melyssa Ford or Mya fan, it *may* be worth seeing for them.

When Jason and Jackie walk into the club or whatever a song a couple songs play. The songs have tight beats and i really like them. Can any1 tell me what those songs are called please? The songs come up right before Jackie gets punched in the mouth and Jason punches someone else. I am not talking about the songs that B3 and no doubt sang. I am talking about the song played in the back round when they rolled up to the club. Please i couldn't find a soundtrack to this damn movie so if anyone could answer this i would greatly appreciate it. I will be researching until someone helps me find it. Someone help me answer this question as soon as possible i need to find out this song Thanks

In regards to the foreclosure comment, granted this was not Star Wars or The Matrix, but it didn't really seem that low budget to me.

I don't think Mia would do a movie for $50,000.

Perhaps you just don't like black people in light of your black movie / budget comments, but if you weren't looking for a romantic African American comedy, you probably shouldn't have chosen to watch this movie.

I don't know if it was the "Love" reference in the title, the genre listing of "comedy", or the rich caricatures within the African American community portrayed that you didn't get, but I thought the movie did an alright job in what it was intended to do.

Although Melyssa Ford did an excellent job in the film, particularly during her emotional breakdown scene, I think this movie offers more to look at than just the women as you put it.

Lastly, I think it is exactly because the black film industry is not exactly overflowing with new releases, that efforts such as these should be lauded, without having to be compared to 90's movie clichés.

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My husband and I rented this film on a whim, and were pleasantly surprised. We actually got a good laugh out of the movie. We enjoyed Jackie Long and Jason Weaver together. They actually work well together and play off of one another. I wouldn't be surprised if some of their scenes had a little ad libbing. Melyssa Ford did a pretty decent job, but I just wanted Mya to show a little more emotion in her role, considering what her character was dealing with. I don't know if Russ wanted to play down the dramatic effect with her character's situation to keep the movie light, or if she just didn't have enough layers to her acting.

But beside that, overall we enjoyed the movie. There are some scenes we still joke about like the boyfriend showing up in the restaurant and Vince's response, the CSI blue light reflecting God knows what in Vince's room, and Cinque's constantly educating the white Brutha and Sista. Cute romantic comedy that teaches (without getting preachy) that love is shown through loyalty and respect and can't be bought. "Do you know where I'm going with this?"

Love for sale is a basically a simple(low-budget) black Comedy/Drama, but a real good one at that. Two of the main characters are from T.I.'s ATL movie and two others being Mya and Melyssa Ford. It has the same kind of feeling as ATL, but a little different, but basically the whole down south thing. But it's much more than that as well. I don't want to say to much about the plot, but it incorporates a love triangle sort of thing, an out of date, but good record studio trying to be saved from closing and a small black business (restaurant, and other things in one place, run by a black loving white older man and a white hating black man, who are tight ironically, and the black guy always talks about how evil white people are, and the white guy keeps crying and saying "I don't understand why white people are so bad" ... you will laugh your a$$ off). Maybe this movie didn't have the kind of budget as all of the "big" Hollywood movies, but it's just that, it's Hollyhood. You could say the plot was predictable, that the acting wasn't perfect, but still, you watch this movie, have a few good laughs, enjoy it, and when you are deep into the movie, you will just keep hoping that it won't end for a long time. It's definitely a feel good movie. I could basically recommend this to everybody. You'll have a good time watching it, trust me.