Monica (Sanaa Latham) and Quincy (Omar Epps) have been next door neighbours since they were 11, both obsessed by basketball. She`s just as talented as he is, but the focus is on the male game. He wanted her to be his girl when she first moved in but then he tried to dominate the relationship and she wouldn`t give in, so they`ve been just friends since. But it`s obvious to all but blind Freddie that they actually love one another. The film traces their individual careers and their relationships not just with one another but with family, friends and rivals. If you want to play basketball for a career, you have to have discipline and you have to make sacrifices.
This debut feature from writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood doesn`t focus so much on winning individual games as it does on the individual characters coming to terms with the decisions they make in life. Quincy`s father, excellently played by Dennis Haysbert, is a pro basketballer who`s forced to admit his past infidelities to his son. Monica has a scratchy relationship with her mother played by Alfre Woodard, Mum`s reconciled to her life as a housewife but Monica regards her as a doormat. Even though there are some cliched moments and even some awkward ones there`s a nice texture to this film with sympathetic if not outstanding performances from both Sanaa Latham and Omar Epps. And it`s healthy seeing affluent black Americans up there on the screen, not all of them are crack dealers or users apparently.
