Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
PUT THIS MOVIE ON DVD NOW, February 12, 2004
This is the film that gave Spike Lee his rise. It is a brilliant first film. Why is the movie viewing public having to wait for the release of this historical film on DVD and for that matter why is Girl 6 not on DVD. Every Spike Lee film ever made should now be available on DVD. She's Got to Have It on DVD NOW!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, the first Spike Lee joint on DVD!, December 12, 2007
It's been WAYYYY too long, but finally Spike Lee's debut, "She's Gotta Have It" has made it to DVD! It has always astounded me that Spike's other films have made it to DVD long before this one, but in January 2008, those of us who are fans of his work will get our wish. The ripple effect of this movie in the twenty-plus years since its release has been an abundance of films made for and by black folks - some of them good, some bad - but the main thing is that "She's Gotta Have It" proved that movies starring black actors do indeed have an audience and inspired many others to step out and attempt to make the same impact.
In case you may be one of the few who are unaware of the plot behind this deliciously brash and sexy comedy, it focuses on the lead character Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns), a young Brooklyn print artist that has not one, but three lovers, all who feel that they are the right man for her. Nola makes no apologies for the type of woman she is...a virile, independent being who enjoys sex and enjoys giving it to whomever she is dealing with. She makes it known what it is she wants from a man, and the three that she juggles here are all sprung by her charms. She is the inattainable prize of these men who each want to have her to themselves. Of course, as the film progresses, they each are pushing her to make a choice between them, and she is unable to - and wondering just why she has to.
Nola's men are as different as day is from night: Jamie (Tommy Hicks), who is sweet, sensitive but possessive; Greer (John Canada Terrell), a narcissistic pretty-boy model who believes the world revolves around him and the loony offbeat homeboy on a bike, Mars (Spike Lee himself). The three guys represent qualities that Nola would probably like to find in one man, but since she hasn't, she deals with three.
Filmed on location in Spike's beloved Brooklyn on a bare-bones budget in 1986 in mostly black and white, this independent gem looks very much like a documentary at times, with characters talking to the camera. It was a very effective method and almost makes you feel like you are looking through a window at this young woman's love life. Some people have been critical of this movie, saying it portrays black women as promiscuous. But truthfully speaking, men have exhibited the same kind of "loose" behavior for centuries and they get pats on the back and told that they are "THE MAN". In sharp contrast, women get bashed if they live their lives the way Nola does in this film - a true double standard. She brings this up in the movie, and although you may not totally agree with her logic, you have to admit that she is on point.
The only real "negative" message I can see in "She's Gotta Have It" is the fact that this woman has three lovers in the age of AIDS, but aside from that, I have to commend Spike for continuing to make films that show various sides of black life, in either a humorous or serious light (or sometimes both at once) that were not normally shown to the mainstream. His work is essential, inspirational and of great historical value in African-American culture - hell, in AMERICAN culture, period! Add this movie to your Spike collection if you haven't done so already!
Update: Slightly disappointing about the DVD packaging is that there are no extras - no director's commentary, interviews with the cast or outtakes/deleted scenes (although the budget may not allowed for too many of those). These are things I would have liked to see included on the DVD, but I'll take this just the way it is! :)
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Please baby please baby please baby please!, February 15, 2008
One of director Spike Lee's earlier, funny films (his debut, actually). A sexy, hip, and fiercely independent young woman (Tracy Camilla Johns) juggles relationships with three men (who are all quite aware of each other's existence). Lee steals his own movie by casting himself as the goofiest and most memorable of the three suitors- "Mars", a hilarious trash-talking Brooklyn version of the classic Woody Allen nebbish. Lee milks maximum laughs from the huffing and puffing by the competing paramours, as they each jockey for the alpha position (and makes keen observations about sexist machismo and male vanity along the way). Spike's dad Bill Lee composed a lovely jazz-pop score. Despite being a little rough around the edges (due to low budget constraints) it was still a groundbreaking film in the context of modern independent cinema, and an empowering milestone for an exciting new wave of talented African-American filmmakers who followed in its wake.
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