She's Gotta Have It (1986)

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

In Brooklyn, Nola Darling dislikes commitment and she has three lovers at the same time. Jamie Overstreet is sweet and looking for a lifelong companion. Greer Childs is a self-obsessed model. Mars Blackmon (Spike Lee) is a loud-mouth childman. Nola, her friends and family narrate the movie talking directly into the camera. Opal Gilstrap is a lesbian who likes Nola. Her free-love policy runs into trouble when the three men discover each other's relationship with Nola.This is Spike Lee's first full-length feature as a writer/director and he is also a major supporting actor. This announces the arrival of a new American cinematic voice. It's inventive and different. Sure the actors are mostly amateurs but everybody has a good charismatic energy. Spike Lee is bringing a lot of different elements into this movie. Most impressively, he has turned the normal sexual relationship between man and woman upside-down. It is a great debut and an imaginative indie.

What Nola's gotta have is sex, and to get it she doesn't mind juggling three lovers, with an equal allowance of the same open, uncomplicated affection. The act of love is, for her, simply an expression of a healthy natural appetite, but for each of her men it's a distracting obsession they'd rather not share. Nothing is quite so foolish as an ardent male in heat, and writer-director-editor Spike Lee exploits that vulnerability with a shrewd eye for the idiosyncrasies of human behavior. Everyone is a target but no one is hurt; Lee even lampoons himself while playing the least conventional corner of the besotted trio. The film was reportedly made in less than a fortnight on a budget under $200,000, but with enough energy and originality to more than compensate for the lack of a professional budget (and a professional cast). In retrospect the shoestring production would have another, unexpected benefit, restricting the stylistic overkill that would mark Lee's subsequent high-profile features.

I'm a Spike Lee fan from way back but missed this one. Now I'm an old retired lady with plenty of time to catch up. All I can say is that this was a wonderful funny erotic comedy. I liked the way the characters introduced themselves, especially the former roommate who moved out because Nola was entertaining so many men, and all the men who announced their charms. If you wouldn't get a laugh watching Greer fold his clothes before sex, I don't know what would tickle you! Spike Lee himself as Mars reminds me of my Border Collie: playful, obnoxiously demanding, adoring, and never understanding why he can't be #1.When Nola is convinced that she should consult a specialist for her addiction, she comes away with no resolution, but we are treated to a wonderful aside by the therapist.The only thing that keeps this picture from a 10 rating is the sequence in color, which I though was trite and out of keeping of the rest of the movie.

Spike Lee's fist, and in many ways his best work. Simple, elemental, insightful, and funny. Beautifully shot in black and white the film is a true "New York/Brooklyn" movie that makes the most of the City, it's streets, and landmarks; with a wonderful soundtrack by his Dad, Jazz legend, Stan Lee. You have to remember that this was a small budget Indy film from a director who would later enjoy big budget successes.When this movie first came out it had everyone buzzing about it and him; and it earned him the accolade: the up and coming Black Woody Allen in the New York press. (a statement that implied a unique "New York" perspective on the world, his intellect, his talent, and his humor; hopefully not also a parallel to the two men being rather short in physical stature....