love jones movie review

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"Love Jones'' is a love story set in the world of Chicago's middle-class black artists and professionals--which is to say, it shows a world more unfamiliar to moviegoers than the far side of the moon. It is also frankly romantic and erotic and smart. This is the first movie in a while where the guy quotes Mozart, and the girl tells him he's really thinking of Shaw.

The movie stars Nia Long as Nina, a professional photographer, and Larenz Tate as Darius, a novelist. After an opening montage of great black and white Chicago scenes (Nina's photographs, we learn), they Meet Cute at the Sanctuary, a club inspired by the various venues around town for poetry slams, cool jazz and upscale dating. His moves are smooth: He meets her, walks to the mike, and retitles his poem "A Blues for Nina,'' reading it to her across the smoky room. She likes that. "Maybe next week you'll write something for me,'' he says. They engage in flirt-talk. "There are other things than sex,'' she tells him. Like what? he wants to know. She takes a pen and writes "love'' on his wrist.

As their relationship develops, we see it in the context of the world they live in, a world of African-American artists, writers, teachers and intellectuals. The film's writer-director, Theodore Witcher , says he wanted to suggest a modern Chicago version of the Harlem Renaissance, but this is the 1920s filtered through modern eyes, and some of the parties they attend have conversation that sounds like hip campus faculty talk.

The relationship between Darius and Nina proceeds, but not smoothly. Is it just a sex thing? They talk about that. She's on the rebound from her last man, and tells Darius "the timing is bad,'' but it starts looking pretty good. And their chemistry, as characters and actors, is hot. There's a sensuous scene where they go to her place, and she loads her camera and tells him to strip, and shoots him while he's teasing her. This nicely turns the gender tables on the famous "Blow Up" scene where the photographer made love through his camera.

Witcher's screenplay is not content to move from A to B to love. There are hurt feelings and misunderstandings, and Nina goes to New York at one point to see her former finance and find out if there's still life in their relationship. I didn't buy that New York trip; it seemed clear to me that Darius was her love, and if she was merely testing him, why take a chance of losing a good thing? Darius starts seeing another woman, she starts dating his best friend, and a completely avoidable misunderstanding develops.

I felt frustrated, but I was happy to. When movie characters inspire my affection, so that I want them to stay together when they don't, that shows the movie's working. And there is a very nice sequence when they both end up at a party with other people, and see each other across the room, and are hurt.

These two characters are charismatic. There's electricity when they go on a date to the weekly steppers'ball hosted by Herb Kent the Cool Gent, who plays himself. Steppin' is a Chicago dance style that comes out of jitterbug, cooled down, and as we watch this scene we get that interesting feeling when a fiction film edges toward documentary and shows us something we haven't seen before.

Nia Long and Larenz Tate are destined for more starring roles. They embody qualities we associate with Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington : They're fresh, have a sense of humor, and are almost implausibly good-looking.

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.

Witcher has a good eye for locations. You can see Loop skyscrapers in the backgrounds of a lot of shots, so you know this is Chicago, but movies haven't shown us these neighborhoods before. Scenes are set in Hyde Park, on the near North Side, and in between. As the characters move from coffee bars to record stores to restaurants to the Sanctuary, we realize how painfully limited the media vision of urban black life is. Why do the movies give us so many homeboys and gangstas and druggies and so few photographers, poets and teachers? The title is spelled all lower-case. That kind of typography was popular in avant garde circles from the 1920s through the 1950s, on everything from book covers to record album jackets. I think Witcher is trying to evoke the tone of that period when bohemia was still somewhat secret, when success was not measured only by sales, when fictional characters wrote novels instead of computer programs and futures contracts. There is also a bow to the unconventional in the ending of his film. Many love stories contrive to get their characters together at the end. This one contrives, not to keep them apart, but to bring them to a bittersweet awareness that is above simple love. Some audience members would probably prefer a romantic embrace in the sunset, as the music swells. But "Love Jones'' is too smart for that.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Love Jones (1997)

Rated R For Language and Sexuality

110 minutes

Isaiah Washington as Savon

Lisa Nicole Carson as Josie

Bill Bellamy as Hollywood

Larenz Tate as Darius

Nia Long as Nina

Written and Directed by

• Theodore Witcher

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Mosley, a beautiful and talented photographer. While trying to figure out if they've got a "love thing" or are just "k... Read all Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Mosley, a beautiful and talented photographer. While trying to figure out if they've got a "love thing" or are just "kicking it," they hang out with their friend, talking about love and sex. Then Nina tests t... Read all Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Mosley, a beautiful and talented photographer. While trying to figure out if they've got a "love thing" or are just "kicking it," they hang out with their friend, talking about love and sex. Then Nina tests the strength of Darius' feelings and sets a chain of romantic complications into motion.

• Theodore Witcher
• Larenz Tate
• Isaiah Washington
• 40 User reviews
• 26 Critic reviews
• 65 Metascore
• 2 wins & 7 nominations

• Darius Lovehall

• Nina Mosley

• Savon Garrison

• Josie Nichols

• Eddie Coles

• Sheila Downes
• (as Bernadette L. Clarke)

• Troy Garrison

• Roger Lievsey

• Model (Lievsey Studio)

• Lisa Martin
• Nina's Assistant

• Tracey Powell

• Percussionist

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia The role of Nina Mosley was originally written for Jada Pinkett Smith .
• Goofs Darius finds Nina's address from a personal check. In the next scene when Nina allows Darius to enter her home she tells him she's "Housesitting".

Darius Lovehall : Say, baby... can I be Your slave? I've got to admit girl you're the shit girl... and I'm digging you like a grave. Now, do they call you Daughter to the Spinning Pulsar... or maybe Queen of 10,000 moons? Sister to the Distant yet Rising Star? Is your name Yemaya? Oh, hell no. Its got to be Oshun. Oooh, is that a smile me put on your face, child... wide as a field of jasmine and clover? Talk that talk, honey. Walk that walk, money. High on legs that'll spite Jehovah. Shit. Who am I? It's not important. But me they call me brother to the night. And right now... I'm the blues in yourleft thigh... trying to become the funk in your right. Who am I? I'll be whoever you say? But right now I'm the sight-raped hunter... blindly pursuing you as my prey. And I just want to give you injections... of sublime erections... and get you to dance to my rhythm... make you dream archetypes... of black angels in flight... upon wings of distorted, contorted... metaphoric jizm. Come on slim. Fuck your man. I ain't worried about him. It's you who I want to step to my scene. 'cause rather the deal with the fallacy... of this dry-ass reality... I'd rather dance and romance your sweet ass in a wet dream. Who am I? Well, they call me Brother to the night. And right now I'm the blues in your left thigh... trying to become the funk in your right. Is that all right?

• Connections Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Return of the Jedi: Special Edition/Love Jones/The Godfather/City of Industry/Troublesome Creek/Mandela (1997)
• Soundtracks Hopeless Written by Van Hunt and Dionne Farris Performed by Dionne Farris Courtesy of Columbia Records

User reviews 40

• Mar 12, 2003
• How long is Love Jones? Powered by Alexa
• March 14, 1997 (United States)
• United States
• Absolut kärlek
• Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Addis Wechsler Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $10,000,000 (estimated)
• $12,479,335
• Mar 16, 1997
• $12,782,749

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 49 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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What it's about

In this romance from 1997, a photographer and a poet meet in an upscale nightclub in Chicago.

They quickly get together and connect on music, poetry, and photography, but Nina, the photographer, decides to go to New York to mend her relationship with her ex-fiance.

It’s so well-acted, funny, and because it’s been enough time that this has become noticeable, a great depiction of big-city life in the 90s. There is smoking inside, riding a motorcycle without helmets, and top-notch fashion.

The producers said they wanted to make “a contemporary film about African-American life that did not deal with guns and drugs,” and probably because they didn’t make compromises, the film was a commercial failure. In recent years, however, it has been quietly growing into a cult classic.

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Love Jones Reviews

"Love Jones" is so pretty to look at -- and listen to -- that its moldy story hardly matters.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 8, 2023

The question that comes to mind while watching "love jones" is, "What took Hollywood so long to make a film like this?"

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 8, 2023

Witcher makes a remarkably confident filmmaking debut, eliciting excellent performances from his leads and underscoring their romance with a soundtrack that flavors, rather than overwhelms, the story.

For a movie with so much talk, it has little to say. Love, we learn, is not easy. Point well taken. But most of us have found that out for ourselves.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 8, 2023

It certainly doesn’t hurt that Witcher has assembled a cast that is easy on the viewers’ eyes; a handsome lot of players who speak as hip as they dress, and strut, sulk, and flirt around the scenery with elegance.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | May 5, 2022

Starring budding luminaries such as Larenz Tate, Nia Long and Isaiah Washington, the power of Witcher’s film lies in its intelligence and simplicity -- a well-written, beautifully presented snap shot of 1990s Chicago.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 4, 2022

An eloquent and underseen ensemble dramedy, Love Jones receives a sparkling 4K transfer and a hearty helping of extras from the Criterion Collection.

Full Review | Apr 27, 2022

One of those films which grows in stature the more you think about it.

Full Review | Apr 22, 2022

We've seen this plot often before but it is something of an indictment of the movie industry that we haven't seen it played, at least not often, by black actors.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 22, 2022

The central romance is one you can get behind, the ultra-attractive leads are fine fantasy figures, and the world they inhabit is a seductive one in which it’s a pleasure to spend time.

Full Review | Mar 26, 2009

...even when the plot sags, the erotic moodiness of Love Jones remains fresh.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Dec 17, 2008

Larenz Tate, who played a homicidal in Menace II Spciety and haunted Vietnam vet in Dead Presidents, became an important transitional figure in the new black middle-class cinema, beginning this film, in which he's cast as a sophisticated and urbane man

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jan 24, 2007

Unfortunately, a relationship has to be pretty special if the couple are going to pair up thrice over.

Full Review | Jun 24, 2006

An uncommonly smart and insightful look at relationships while delivering the requisite laughs and romantic heat.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 18, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 10, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 20, 2003

love jones strives to be smart and sophisticated, which isn't exactly the same thing as intelligent ...

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Jan 23, 2003

It's not a particularly engaging movie.

Full Review | Feb 14, 2001

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 1, 2000

The two leads click throughout in a movie that's just good enough to engender curiosity over filmmaker Witcher's follow-up effort.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 1, 2000

Love Jones Review

27 Jun 1997

109 minutes

The surprise hit of that indie Mecca the Sundance Film Festival, this would have been lost among dozens of other smartly scripted, style-on-a-shoestring features had it not been for the fact that it's about the kind of African-American Bohemians who usually dwell on the fringes of Whit Stillman movies.

This is a bold new direction for Black American cinema. There's not a homeboy in sight, not a single rap anthem on the soundtrack, and no one gets blown away in the midst of a hopeless crime. Instead we get jazz poetry clubs, arty monochrome photos, discussions about the meaning of life and dialogue almost totally devoid of the F-word.

At the centre of this cosy paradise are Darius (a live-mike poet who's writing a novel - Tate) and Nina (a photographer who's gone off men - Long). Naturally, the path to true love is strewn with the kind of rows and separations that only ever happen in films because movie people never provide or listen to the explanations that would end a misunderstanding in five seconds flat. But where's the fun in that?

Tate and Long gel beautifully, but all the performances have a relaxed assurance that stands in stark contrast to the aggressive delivery of much New Black Cinema. Witcher makes the most of a misty, wet Chicago and outdoes himself with a wonderful "sleep on the sofa" scene.

• Blu-ray edition reviewed by Chris Galloway
• June 07 2022

See more details, packaging, or compare

Steeped in the bohemian cool of Chicago’s 1990s Black creative scene,  love jones— the smart, sexy, and stylish debut feature of writer-director Theodore Witcher—is a love story for anyone who has ever wondered: How do I know when I’ve found the one? Larenz Tate and Nia Long have magnetism and chemistry to burn as the striving, artistically talented twentysomethings—he’s a poet, she’s a photographer—who spark over their love of literature and jazz, but whose mutual reluctance to commit to a relationship leaves them both navigating an emotional minefield of confusion, jealousy, and regrets. Velvety cinematography; an unforgettable, eclectic soundtrack; sophisticated dialogue; and refreshingly low-key, naturalistic performances by an ensemble cast that also includes Isaiah Washington, Lisa Nicole Carson, Bill Bellamy, Bernadette Speakes, and Leonard Roberts come together in an intoxicating, seductively moody romance that engages both the heart and the mind.

Picture 9/10

The Criterion Collection presents Theodore Witcher’s love jones on Blu-ray, delivering the film in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on a dual-layer disc. The new 1080p/24hz high-definition presentation is sourced from a new 4K restoration. The 35mm original A/B negatives were the source for the scan.

I wasn’t sure what to expect for this late 90’s film but the end high-definition presentation is nothing short of exceptional. The film is a character focused romance film, an attentive one, but fairly straight forward. Yet it still features a surprising visual flair that is all the more impressive when one considers the film is, criminally, the lone feature Witcher has directed. Witcher is very astute in his use of colour and shadows, a topic he talks about extensively in the included commentary, and this all is delivered in a stunning manner. Reds, blues, violets, and greens, all of it is elegantly saturated, bold and vivid, leaping off the screen. Highlights also look great and details don’t get eaten up too badly.

Another impressive aspect is how wonderfully the film’s grain ends up being rendered. As Witcher also mentions in the included commentary he did not want a grainy looking film, but he realized that, as the film is developed and prints are made, degradation in quality is all-but-guaranteed, and the image would get grainier in the process. This led to him looking into a combination of lighting and film stock that would allow him to keep the grain levels low and fine. With this presentation working directly off of the negatives what we get is a picture with a very fine yet very clean grain structure, the scan having picked it up all beautifully while Criterion’s encode, somewhat surprisingly, does an incredible job rendering it. The picture looks so sharp and clean, the grain barely registering, but it’s there, and this, in turn, leads to an exceptional level of detail.

I was also very impressed with the range present in the picture, a lot of the film taking place at night or dim interiors with limited light sources. Black levels can get a little heavy in places, flattening things out here and there, but on the whole there is an unbelievable level of detail present in the shadows with clean, subtle gradients. One of the most impressive moments in the film comes around a scene where the two are walking around a fountain during a foggy evening. On top of the fact that the encode renders this fog perfectly, no noise or banding present, the light also naturally disperses through it without a hitch and the end results look about as pure and photographic as you could hope. Interestingly, Witcher does not like the scene because he hadn’t planned on the fog, but due to time restrictions he had to shoot the film as is. I get where he’s coming from; when things don’t turn out exactly the way I want I’m rarely pleased about it. But it’s one of those things the likes of Bob Ross would have called a “happy little accident” and it really is a lovely looking scene and it is presented here in near-perfect manner.

All told, it’s an incredible shame this isn’t getting a 4K release as I could see a UHD, with a good HDR grading, being an absolute knockout. But as it is here it’s still a stunner of a presentation, one of Criterion’s better ones in recent memory.

Criterion presents the film with a lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround soundtrack. Dialogue and background effects are focused primarily to the fronts, panning present when called for, but it all sounds sharp and clean with excellent dynamic range and fidelity. The surrounds also pick up a few background effects, including in clubs or public settings, but they mostly kick in to handle the songs that appear throughout. Audio overall is sharp and crisp and incredibly clean, no damage present.

Extras 10/10

On top of a stellar presentation Criterion has also put together an impressive special edition for the film, packing on some great features. Those features include an audio commentary by Witcher himself, one that may take the award for being one of the best director commentaries I’ve listened to in recent memory. Witcher of course talks about the film’s inspirations and what he was aiming to accomplish with the end product, getting into the filmmakers that inspired him including the likes of Woody Allen (the opening directly inspired by Manhattan ) and Robert Altman (overlapping dialogue being one of the takeaways). Bertrand Tavernier’s ‘Round Midnight even makes its way in there. Moreover, he delves deeply into just about every aspect of the production, from how he accomplished the film’s look to the jazz-infused score, and he even gets into test screenings and the alterations that came from those, one of which, to Witcher's amusement, involved audiences having issues around one character standing freely in the rain instead of looking for cover. But the moments I wasmost taken by was the ones where he seems to be reassessing some of his decisions or where he expresses regrets, whether it be cutting a story point or not getting that exact shot he wanted.

Another aspect I liked is where he recalls his experience as a first-time feature film director, explaining the growing pains around it and what it was like working with a studio like New Line, who appear to have left him alone for the most part. It’s this material that up-and-coming filmmakers may find most interesting since Witcher explains those unexpected issues that come up. There’s a lot of examples but one I found interesting is his explaining how the film ran too long and the studio, in one of the few times they sound to have stepped in, insisted on shortening the picture. Witcher explains how he accomplished this, but it involved cutting out a subplot around one character sending another character a letter that would end up getting lost, but due to some of the set-up being present in scenes that were otherwise needed, remnants of it can still be found within the film. In this case, there’s a sequence remaining where the future recipient is calling the post office about mail being stolen, and it was here where this whole subplot was first being set-up. But since it was part of a sequence that was needed for the main plot, it couldn’t be cut. It’s here where Witcher explains why it ends up working out, and it’s stuff like this that gives the track a real “film school” quality that excels it above other director commentary tracks. It’salso all the more impressive because Witcher is able to recall so much about the film 25 years later.

Honestly, if that track was the only extra on here it would have still made for an exceptional special edition but Criterion packs in more worthwhile content including a new interview between Witcher and film scholar Racquel J. Gates , running a lengthy 44-minutes. This is another great discussion where Witcher, impressively, manages to throw in some new stories and thoughts around the film that don't come up in the commentary, while Gates explains the impact the film has had on her and others, and how that has led to a lasting legacy that was unforeseen after the film initially bombed.  Witcher talks a little more about the casting, particularly around Larenz Tate, Witcher shocked to learn the actor was nothing like the character he played in Menace II Society (he had thought they had literally just pulled some psycho off of the street), and then he touches on controversial aspects of the story, including where it appears Tate’s character is stalking Nia Long’s early on. But I ended up being most fascinated around Witcher’s answer to Gates’ question around what he would change if he made the film today, leading to a discussion on what was needed, at least at the time the film was made, to make a talky “low stakes” film work with audiences. Similar to the commentary, as they get into structural elements and the film’s humour, the interview ends up adding yet another “film school” like layer to the release’s batch of features. (Also worth noting, Witcher recalls his first gig in Hollywood as a writer for a Hughes Brothers feature from which he was eventually “fired.” He doesn’t mention what that project was but looking it up it appears to have been a film called Public Enemies , which was never finished.)

Criterion next includes a new interview between music scholars Mark Anthony Neal and Shana L. Redmond , who take the time to discuss the film’s soundtrack, with a focus on Lauryn Hill and how the music appropriately accompanies their respective moments in the film. Also here is footage from a 2017 panel discussion following a screening of the film, featuring Witcher, actors Nia Long, Larenz Tate, Isaiah Washington, Lisa Nicole Carson, Bill Bellamy, and other members of the crew, with director Barry Jenkins moderating. Here the cast and crew share stories around the production and talk about the film’s legacy. Funnily enough, Washington points out one scene he feels was a mistake, the same scene Witcher also points out as a mistake elsewhere on the disc’s features. The panel discussion runs around 58-minutes.

The disc then features a 5-minute making-of featurette made around the time of the film’s release and is nothing more than a promotional piece. The included insert then closes things off with an insightful and lengthy essay on the film, written by critic Danielle Amir Jackson.

Altogether it may not look like a lot of material but, save for the archival production featurette, it’s all high-quality content and worth the effort of working through, especially Witcher’s excellent commentary.

The title just kind of snuck in there on Criterion’s schedule but it’s one of their best releases so far this year.

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Directed by Theodore Witcher

Get Together. Fall Apart. Start Over.

Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Moseley, a beautiful and talented photographer. While trying to figure out if they've got a "love thing" or are just "kicking it," they hang out with their friends, talking about love and sex. Then Nina tests the strength of Darius' feelings and sets a chain of romantic complications into motion.

Larenz Tate Nia Long Isaiah Washington Bill Bellamy Lisa Nicole Carson Marie-Françoise Theodore Khalil Kain Leonard Roberts Bernadette Speakes

Director Director

Theodore Witcher

Producers Producers

Nick Wechsler Jeremiah Samuels

Writer Writer

Editor editor, cinematography cinematography.

Ernest Holzman

Title Design Title Design

Stunts stunts.

Linda Perlin

Composers Composers

Wyclef Jean Darryl Jones

Sound Sound

Larry Blake

Costume Design Costume Design

Shawn Barton

New Line Cinema Addis Wechsler Pictures

Releases by Date

14 mar 1997, releases by country.

• Theatrical R

108 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

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“Romance is about the possibility of the thing. You see, it's about the time between when you first meet the woman, and when you first make love to her; When you first ask a woman to marry you, and when she says I do. When people who been together a long time say that the romance is gone, what they're really saying is they've exhausted the possibility.”

Love Jones is often cited as one of the most egregious examples of 90s Hollywood failing black filmmakers. It’s also brought up by black audiences and actors as one of the best love stories of the 90s and it sure as shit is. That Theodore Witcher never made another movie despite all the…

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Review by ✨PinkMcflurry (Danya)✨ ★★★½

Quarantine Priority Watchlist 

I swear that black love be hitting different. Although I wanted more love scenes and scenes of them getting to know each other I still enjoyed this. The chemistry between the entire cast was *chefs kiss*   Reminded me of me and my friend group.

Review by Paul ★★★★½

Physics, this shit ain’t. It ain’t supposed to make sense. Love, passion…it is what is.

I feel so weird giving this the highest rating out of all my moots but it feels right! I definitely wasn’t expecting to love this movie as much as I did but wow. The characters feel so full, their actions feel so realistic and the soundtrack goes crazy. The movie is beautiful and the writing feels so thoughtful throughout the movie. So much cast chemistry here. Such a great way to start Black History Month AND get ready for Valentines Day. This also might be one of my all time favorites after a rewatch. Theodore Witcher can you PLEASE make another movie I’m begging you

Review by francesca ★★★★

everyone in this film is so attractive and charming by the end i felt like i could vibrate through walls

Review by cleansing my soul of addiction🦋 ★★★★ 1

keep likin my letterboxd reviews we gon end up like this🥴

Review by AS4488 ★★★★★

These people felt so real and the chemistry between the whole cast is off the walls. The poetry in this is beautiful.

Review by olivia ★★★★ 2

exceptional, beautiful, artistic, intelligent, and both a mundane and extraordinary expression of love at the same time, which is something special to achieve. i wish i had watched this years ago. i should really wade into my netflix list more often. what a great film. 

( top favorite first watches of 2021 )

Review by JayLee248 ★★½ 6

Love Jones is such a odd case for me. I recommend seeing this movie for anyone who is curious even though I expected more. Love Jones disappointed me because it was far from the super romantic movie that is associated with it. I wouldn’t call they’re relationship toxic but it is dysfunctional as hell. I’m happy they’re relationship isn’t on The Notebook’s level but it’s still bad.

For one Larenz Tate came off as a major creep. Bro has no game in this movie once so ever. His tactics for getting Nia Long’s character is wild and the bad part is that it worked. Nia long usually stands out in every movie she’s in. Even if it’s a small role…

Review by Jerry McGlothlin ★★★½ 3

Spirits skip tracing through pouring rain; drops like amulets—a weary heart’s incantation. It falls slow and rhythmic as poetry, paregoric, but just as the greatest verses can soothe, so, too, they sometimes sadden. In bodies bracing for long nights, no distance can divide; no differences distend. Love seeming just out of reach, r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ not quite on time. Maybe for the moment…

Review by lex 🍉 ★★★★½ 3

20 Films by Black Directors Challenge - 2021

“falling in love ain't shit. somebody, please, talk to me about how to stay there.” “this a destiny type thing, babe.”

a film that’s truly for the culture. a long overdue watch, once again embarrassing on my end, but ultimately i loved it. so romantic, so real💗 Darius Lovehall could’ve and would’ve ruined my life and i would’ve been like thank you sheesh😫🙏🏾

Love Jones , wow. a mf classic indeed!

Review by lex 🍉 ★★★★★

falling in love after the first link!

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Love Jones Reviews

• 65   Metascore
• 1 hr 50 mins
• Drama, Comedy
• Watchlist Where to Watch

Amusing look at the romance between a coolly distrustful photographer and her smooth-talking, poetry-writing suitor.

Sexy and soulful like the smoothest slow jam, writer-director Theodore Witcher's debut feature is a classy, surprisingly accomplished romantic comedy focusing on life and love among of a group of young African-American Chicagoans. Nina (Nia Long) is an aspiring photographer who's nursing her wounds after being dumped by her fiance. Darius (Larenz Tate) is an aspiring novelist with a cool lothario pose that saves him from ever having to form a meaningful relationship. When they hook up, it's more than just great sex: It's the dreaded love jones, which neither one is willing to admit. Witcher's film is really a very simple story of boy meets girl, boy loses girl (repeatedly), boy gets girl. But it's refreshingly free of the broad racial stereotypes that define the BOOTY CALL/PHAT BEACH/THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE school of raunchy romantic comedy, and the fact that it's as much her story as it is his boosts this one a notch or two above the merely conventional. Stylishly photographed (with a thin layer of South Side Chicago grit beneath the glossy exterior) and graced with an appealing supporting cast that includes Isaiah Washington, Lisa Nicole Carson and MTV's Bill Bellamy, this just may be this season's perfect date movie.

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Love Jones (1997)

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Love Jones streaming: where to watch online?

Currently you are able to watch "Love Jones" streaming on Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Showtime Apple TV Channel. It is also possible to buy "Love Jones" on Apple TV, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Vudu, Microsoft Store, AMC on Demand as download or rent it on Amazon Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Vudu, Microsoft Store, Spectrum On Demand online.

Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Moseley, a beautiful and talented photographer. While trying to figure out if they've got a "love thing" or are just "kicking it," they hang out with their friends, talking about love and sex. Then Nina tests the strength of Darius' feelings and sets a chain of romantic complications into motion.

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Love Jones (1997) Stream and Watch Online

Watch 'love jones' online.

Want to watch ' Love Jones ' in the comfort of your own home? Searching for a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or view the Theodore Witcher-directed movie via subscription can be difficult, so we here at Moviefone want to do the heavy lifting. Below, you'll find a number of top-tier streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription options - along with the availability of 'Love Jones' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into all the details of how you can watch 'Love Jones' right now, here are some particulars about the New Line Cinema Addis Wechsler Pictures comedy flick. Released March 14th, 1997, 'Love Jones' stars Larenz Tate , Nia Long , Isaiah Washington , Bill Bellamy The R movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 48 min, and received a user score of 74 (out of 100) on TMDb, which assembled reviews from 56 experienced users. What, so now you want to know what the movie's about? Here's the plot: "Darius Lovehall is a young black poet in Chicago who starts dating Nina Moseley a beautiful and talented photographer While trying to figure out if theyve got a love thing or are just kicking it they hang out with their friends talking about love and sex Then Nina tests the strength of Darius feelings and sets a chain of romantic complications into motion" 'Love Jones' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on Microsoft Store, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Apple iTunes, AMC on Demand, Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel , Vudu, Showtime Apple TV Channel, and Spectrum On Demand .

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