They too ran with this chance to impress with human tones far different than their previous roles and projects. The kisses we watch mean more by what’s behind them and the actors convey that dramatically. In both lead romances, attraction takes hold quickly and the euphoric rush is palpable and compelling. Showing refined tastes matching their theodore witcher characters, jazz becomes a larger artistic presence than the hip-hop of each era.
‘All we have Marvin, is all these years. And it’s just not enough… anymore.’ – Nina Mosley
Witcher wrote and directed “love jones,” which stars Larenz Tate and Nia Long in the first of what producers hope is a series of revisionist films about the modern young African American experience. Darius, a smooth spoken-word poet, meets Nina, a gifted photographer, in a smoky Chicago jazz club. Their chemistry is palpable from the very beginning—a playful but meaningful connection that quickly deepens. But like love in real life, their journey is anything but straightforward.
- The R-rated “love jones” features romance instead of bump-and-grind sex, sensitivity instead of hardness, hope instead of nihilism.
- These days, when we see a small film cross over like Pariah, it often has the support of other Black Hollywood producers.
- This was the man who should’ve been just as prolific as Tyler Perry (before Tyler Perry) if you will.
- He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle and a member of the nationally-recognized Online Film Critics Society.
- Nick Wechsler, who was a producer on the film, puts Witcher in a league with Stephen Soderbergh and Gus Van Sant, two other onetime directing wunderkinds whose Sundance-winning films he also produced.
- Can you believe it’s been 15 years since Love Jones was released and raised the bar for Black filmmaking?
Darius follows, and they briefly reconcile, sharing a romantic evening at the Blackstone Hotel and a walk by Buckingham Fountain. He obtains her address through a mutual acquaintance and delivers a CD she was seeking, prompting their first date. Their chemistry leads to an intimate night together, though both remain unsure of their emotional readiness.
Between artistic ambition, past heartbreaks, and the push-and-pull of vulnerability, Darius and Nina navigate the messy, beautiful reality of falling in love. The story tells the tale of two lost souls who during the Iraq War, start an intense love affair, only to be separated by circumstance. Ten years later, when they reunite by chance, the intense attraction returns, only this time, one of them is married. Additionally, he has an untitled civil rights era, action-drama movie that he co-wrote and will direct which set to start principal photography in the fall. The three essential ingredients to any romantic drama are chemistry, emotional complications and sex, and Love Jones had them all. The opened in theaters 23 years ago today.The other thing Love Jones had was words — with a screenplay written by Theodore Witcher.
Quotes From ‘Love Jones’ That Are Still Relevant 23 Years Later
Their characters are the blunt and honest sounding boards receiving and advising on uncertain feelings. For Mae and Michael in The Photograph, the shared soul-searching and soul-baring involves channeling the past as much as the present.Enormous credit goes to the appeal of the actors. At the time, Larenz Tate was coming off of his volatile lead performance in Menace II Society and Nia Long was just a dreamy prize in Friday. The same can be said for Sorry to Bother You’s Lakeith Stanfield and the untested internet star Issa Rae.
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- There has to be something that you want to do that a studio wants to pay for.
- Darius shows Nina his apartment—nicknamed “the Batcave”—and their connection deepens.
- These two films shine not only for their modern and mature intentions but in the value of their words.
There has to be something that you want to do that a studio wants to pay for. Part of the reason why Love Jones continues to mark such a rarity is the fact the screenwriter and director of the film, Theodore Witcher, virtually disappeared afterwards. He was only 24 at the time of making the movie, marking his first job directing a feature film. On this date 25 years ago, the world was introduced to an amazing love story that would become a classic in Black culture and served as “romance goals” for so many couples after its release in 1997. From AMC Studios, the half-hour series is created by accomplished writer and playwright, Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm (Boomerang) and executive produced by Mark Johnson’s Gran Via Productions (Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad). Kirk Moore (American Crime, For Life) and Chisholm serve as co-showrunners.
‘Love Jones’ Turns 25: See The Film’s Cast Then And Now
What made this story special is that it showed how difficult having perseverance can be, along with the real power of Black love. Soon after, he was introduced to both Wechsler and then-New Line executive Helena Echegoyen by his then-manager Spencer Baumgarten. He pitched her a few action ideas that she liked, but when he told her about a romantic comedy based on his own life and the experiences of a few close friends, the seed for “love jones” was planted.
Love Jones has its core of poetry and The Photograph has its mystery of visual arts. Nothing in either love story feels telegraphed toward a foregone conclusion. There’s no magical switch for a line of “I love you” to change everything. Love Jones doesn’t use that sentence until the very end, and, in even more forthright fashion, The Photograph doesn’t say it at all.
Director Theodore Witcher Talks about the making of ‘Love Jones’
When Harrison Ford demonstrated with casual nonchalance that the gun was mightier than the sword in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” 11-year-old Theodore Witcher was inspired to pick up a camera. Fifteen years later, the rookie writer-director is trying to show that romance can be mightier than the gun. MadameNoire is a sophisticated lifestyle publication that gives African-American women the latest in fashion trends, black entertainment news, parenting tips and beauty secrets that are specifically for black women. Black women seek information on a wide variety of topics including African-American hair care, health issues, relationship advice and career trends – and MadameNoire provides all of that. As someone who appreciates films about the African-American experience and who appreciates quality filmmaking period, I can’t understand why the Witchers of the world are not fostered.
It’s a novel concept that some in Hollywood might consider a risky box-office proposition, but one that director Witcher believes serves a much more important function than profit margin. Can you believe it’s been 15 years since Love Jones was released and raised the bar for Black filmmaking? The romantic drama starring Larenz Tate and Nia Long raised the bar so high that very few Black films have managed to get close to the superb storytelling quality and on-screen chemistry delivered by the Chicago-based film. In other words, that’s why Love Jones lives on as an iconic film in the Black cannon. A year later, Darius has published his novel, and Nina, now a successful photographer, returns to Chicago for a magazine assignment.
In his mind the music, which includes songs by members of the Fugees, Dionne Ferris, Cassandra Wilson, John Coltrane and Billy Eckstine, demonstrates a stylistic change that’s just as profound as many of the characters featured in his film. The R-rated “love jones” features romance instead of bump-and-grind sex, sensitivity instead of hardness, hope instead of nihilism. None of the characters goes to jail, throws up a gang sign or, unlike “Booty Call,” stretches a 20-minute condom joke into a full-length feature, but all are identifiably black, intellectual without being condescending, and extremely hip.
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Solvan “Slick” Naim (61st Street, Power) directs and executive produces the series’ first two episodes. Impressed that he’s only sitting a few seats down from legendary writer and director Billy Wilder, Witcher is low-key and laid-back, and laughs easily. His movie tied for the Audience Award at the latest Sundance Film Festival, and critics have praised the film as being smart, perceptive and hip. He may not be Wilder yet, but Witcher, who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, has come a long way from his days as a production assistant on “The Jerry Springer Show” and a hotel waiter at McDonald’s Hamburger University. “I filmed action scenes with friends, takeoffs from other movies, you name it,” Witcher says. I had a lot of ambitious ideas, but could never save up enough money to do that massive Super-8 opus.