"Love and basketball". The title says it all. A worthy and entertaining film, L&B explores the relationship between an African-American couple, both "ballers", from its preteen beginnings into young adult life. The film is an entertaining blending of...well, love and basketball. Not Oscar material but worth a look.

The structure of the screenplay of "Love & Basketball" is divided in four quarters: it begins in 1981, when Monica, a young girl who loves basketball, moves to the house on the next door of Quincy's, also a basketball fan, and they begin a friendship due to their passion for the sport. The next two quarters are developed in 1988/89, when Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) join the USC, where they study and play basketball. They are together and in love, but Quincy ends their romance, due to personal problems in the breast of his family. The last quarter is in 1993, when Monica is playing in Barcelona, in the Vigo team, and Quincy breaks the ligament of his knee in a game America. "Love & Basketball" is not a bad movie, but something is missing to be a great film. One of its problems is the total lack of chemistry between Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps: they are good actress and actor, but they do not have any chemistry to perform the role of a romantic couple. Further, it is impossible to feel any empathy by their arrogant characters: their attitudes along the story are sometimes even nasty, specially regarding Quincy. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Além dos Limites" ("Beyond the Limits")

I am definitely more of a movie fan than a basketball fan, thus I went in expecting a jock flick with a token relationship thrown in to justify the title. I could not have been more wrong. Unlike "He Got Game" (another very good film),which dwells solely on the negative aspects of the sport - hustlers, hookers, drugs and death, L&B concentrates on the positive things in life and basketball serves as the background rather than the focus. The story is very well written and works on several levels - it refuses to be pinned down as simply a romance or drama, choosing instead a careful blending of different elements. My only complaint - minor at that - would have to be the ending (and no I'm not going to tell you).

First, how could I find fault with a film that actually does a great casting job with Tyra Banks? She has a small cameo role- she plays a beautiful stewardess, small stretch - with some great lines. Omar Epps brings his trademark cockiness to the role, and although it took me awhile to buy him as a basketball player -he's not exactly Goliath -he grows on you. More importantly, he exhibits and a depth and range that he's never shown before. Sanaa Lathan however, goes one step further, and demonstrates an intensity both on and off the court that puts her in a league all her own. Her performance can be summed up as superb. my all time favorite movie yall should make a sequal of this movie