Valentine’s Day may be in the rearview mirror, but that doesn’t mean romance has to end, especially when you consider my favorite romance movie of the last quarter-century is now in the Max streaming library — Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Love & Basketball. I’d go so far as to say that it’s even better than some of the most popular films of the genre (including The Notebook and Fifty Shades of Grey).
For those of you who aren’t as familiar, Love & Basketball follows the epic romance of Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) from young teens into adulthood. As they go through highs and plenty of lows, and even when the pair aren’t together, they find themselves forever connected through their mutual adoration of basketball. And if you haven’t guessed, Monica and Quincy’s love for the sport is a beautifully crafted metaphor for their feelings for each other.
