Within the last 15 years a Black romance movie seems to not exist unless it stars Taye Diggs, Gabrielle Union, Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall, or Sanaa Lathan (Paula Patton could also be included in this). It’s true. We know this and for the most part aren’t bothered because we still go to the movies to see them. Last week I pit Poetic Justice against Love Jones in a debate for the superior romance film. They weren’t two films one would necessarily think to compare; but it made sense. Going into Valentine’s Day, we’re doing the same for two that are even more similar: Brown Sugar and Love & Basketball.
Essentially, this is the debate of romance with a subject being the driving force of the story. I didn’t think about it at first; but this Throwback Thursday debate could also be dubbed the “Which Sanaa Lathan Movie is Better?”
Throwback Thursday Debate: Love and Basketball vs. Brown Sugar
Chemistry
It is hard to compare the acting between these two movies. Not because the protagonists gave poor performances; but they had chemistry. It wasn’t the first time that Sanaa and Taye (The Best Man) were romantic interests and that goes for she and Omar as well (The Wood).
I had a hard time believing that Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan grew up in the same neighborhood. That just didn’t seem right to me. Truth be told, as good of a job I felt Taye Diggs did in Brown Sugar, any of the other black actors who are always in these movies could have played the part and the chemistry would have been the same.
What made Love & Basketball a really good movie was the chemistry. Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan played very well off of each other because they were actually seeing each other at the time. Their moments of tension or looks of love felt real because to some extent that was how they really felt about each other. Love & Basketball gets this one by a landslide.
Supporting Characters
Love & Basketball didn’t rely heavily on the supporting characters. Almost everyone played small parts while the main characters carried a majority of the film. Going back to my first sentence in this piece, Regina Hall and Gabrielle Union were in this movie.
Sid and Dre carried Brown Sugar as well; but the supporting cast was a little more developed. Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker playing romantic opposites and antagonists helped move the story along. They were everything that the main characters thought they wanted in someone yet they just weren’t a good fit. Also, Brown Sugar added comic relief with Mos Def’s awkward pursuits of Queen Latifah. Brown Sugar wins here.
Quotes/Screenplay
Both movies each had one line that stood out. Playing one on one for Quincy McCall’s heart in the old back yard where it all started brought things full circle all while the conflict had reached its peak. Well played and it ended with asking for a rematch which even I am man enough to admit was beautiful.
“When did you fall in love with hip hop?” seemed a little corny at first; but it’s actually a great question. Brown Sugar is about two people who love the culture and the music that birthed it. Through this fondness Sid and Dre realized that they loved each other. What makes that a great question is that hip hop is one of those few things in which there generally is one moment in which you become enamored with it. Just about all of us who are hip hop heads can describe that one moment to you as vividly as when you met someone you just knew you were going to marry.
Love & Basketball has the better screenplay; but Brown Sugar has the more memorable quote so that makes this one a tie.
More Relatable
There is a subject that is the common interest of the main characters in each of these movies. While neither may specifically pertain to most of the viewing audience, there is a little something in both that we can see in ourselves as well.
While Love & Basketball‘s title gives away what the movie is about; the movie is about the evolution of the lovers growing up together. In this film we saw them as kids, their teenage puppy love, falling out with the college sweetheart, and in their case getting it together and living happily ever after in the end. We’ve all practically been there even if some are still waiting for their happy ending.
Brown Sugar starts with Sid and Dre as kids in the Bronx checking out the local cyphers and then fast forwards to the future. This one is more about actually being an adult and making right decisions at the right time. They needed to know what didn’t work for them in order to know what they actually needed had been in front of them the whole time and everyone knew it. They were being stupid; yet I have dated writers and people who work in music and the romantic life is that dramatic.
To me personally Brown Sugar wins; but Love & Basketball in the court (no pun/wordplay intended) of popular opinion.
Music
Brown Sugar is based around Common’s 1995 classic “I Used to Love H.E.R.” where he personified hip hop as a woman and how she evolved. There were many references to it throughout the film as well. Music drove this movie because it was about music. It had cameos from a plethora of hip hop artists and two of the supporting characters were as well (Remember when Queen Latifah used to rap and was part of the greatest rap collective ever?). The song that Dre was trying to get placed on radio was produced by someone who was up and coming by the name Kanye West as well.
Music was used very differently in Love & Basketball. Since the movie took place over an extended period of time, the songs had to reflect that as well. However, the song selection is what truly made the movie. Zapp and Roger at the prom while Quincy and Monica stared at each other, “You Made a Fool of Me” while Monica lost that one-on-one game, and “I’ll Go” by Donnell Jones at the end when it turns out Quincy would be supporting Monica’s professional basketball career evoked the right emotion and was done so masterfully.
…Love & Basketball hands down.
Romantic Experience
If I were spending an evening with my significant other which one of these movies would I prefer (Or being told I had to watch one). You can’t go wrong with either. Love & Basketball is a little more of an emotional movie and Brown Sugar may be romantic; but is a little more lighthearted. For that reason, I would have to probably give this one a tie as well.
The final tally: Love & Basketball wins 3-1 with two ties. Overall, pretty balanced with one having the edge.
