This is the moment some of you have been waiting for! When it comes to black movies, Love Jones is probably in everybody’s top five. To this day, fifteen years after the film’s initial release, people still talk about Darius Lovehall and Nina Mosley like they were real people instead of fictional characters. We own the DVD, know the lyrics to every song on the soundtrack and truth be told some of us are still out here looking for a Darius and Nina kind of love. You know the movie and the effect it had on you but do you know these behind the scenes facts?
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It Didn’t Make Much Money in the Theaters but the Critics Loved it about as much as We Did
Even though the film only grossed $12 million at the box office, the incredible story, slamming soundtrack–which earned the 16th spot on the Billboard top 200–and positive critical reception made it a classic. The people as well as the critics loved it. Roger Ebert, who gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, was particularly impressed with the acting: “It’s hard to believe that Tate–so smooth, literate and attractive here–played the savage killer O-Dog in Menace II Society. Nia Long was Brandi, one of the girl friends, in Boyz N the Hood. Love Jones extends their range, to put it mildly.”
Another critic, James Berardinelli, noted that the dialogue is what set this film apart from the rest. “And Love Jones’s dialogue is rarely trite. When the characters open their mouths, it usually is because they have something intelligent to say, not because they’re trying to fill up dead air with meaningless words.”
