Love Jones Review Essay

The consummate ladies man, Darius silky smooth presentment romises more sell than substance. And Ninas recently Jilted heart isnt looking for anymore of lie withs kind of trouble. fuck Jones begins with Nina and her good girlfriend Josie Nichols (Lisa Nicole Carson) packing up whats left of Ninas disap orienting relationship. Fearful that the scars left from this failed romance may be too deep for her to heal, Josie spuds her to a night-time poetry-slam at the Sanctuary, where she encounters Darius for the first time.The Sanctuary is the local haven where poetry is the crest draw, and a favorite night aspersion for Darius and his friends Savon Garrison (Isaiah Washington), Eddie Coles Leonard Roberts), Sheila Downes (Bernadette Clark, and Hollywood (Bill Bellamy). The romance dies between couples, we overhear Darius sexual relation his friends from his intellectual set, because theyVe (people) given up on the possibility of it. In an awkward introduction at the bar, Nina catc hes Darius off-guard and, uncharacteristically, he fumbles and spills his drink on her.He recovers proceedings later when called to the stage to recite one of his poems. He make ups the most of the moment by calling his esthetical creation A Blues for Nina. Flattered but embarrassed, she informs him in front of his friends that there are opics for poetry new(prenominal) than sex. When he asks her to name one, she writes the word make do on his hand. Everyone is impressed particularly Darius. Darius hang ins into Nina at a write down store managed by his friend, Sheila. She is there because she has Just been fired from her Job as a photographers assistant and desperately needs to hear the Isley Brothers.When Darius approaches her, she acts as thought she vaguely remembers his name. Darius seizes the opportunity though, by performing her a tender rendition of Parkers Mood. While Nina remains unreceptive at that point, she finally buckles and agrees to a date when Darius ppear s, unannounced at her door presenting the very CD she had been looking for at the record store. He bribed Sheila so he could get her address and phone number off of the check she used to fee for a CD.His persistence pays off when a romantic statement l Just want to get under ones skin up and talk leads to a passionate night at her apartment. The next morning, Darius and Nina confide in their various(prenominal) friends Savon and Josie that, in spite of the incredible sex, It aint no love thing, they Just kickin it. Unfortunately, these two individuals arent exactly the best advisors they could have ound Josie is way down on men and lives her life vicariously by Nina, and Savon is mired in the problems of his eight-year marriage (his wife left him and took their son).But Darius is getting interested. He notwithstanding reveals to Nina the unspeakable location of the Batcave (his apartment), where close to interesting foreplay ensues when she whips erupt her camera and tell s Darius to reconcile off his clothes. The romance advances. Then, out of the blue, Marvin Cox (Khalil Kain), Ninas former fiance, shows up asking her for a second chance. At Josies suggestion, Nina uses the domiciliate to test Darius Will he be Jealous, or coolly let her go? Darius pretends not to care, of course, and Nina moves to in the buff York to see if she should resume her relationship with Marvin.Inevitably, Marvin and Ninas differences are irreconcilable, and Nina returns the engagement ring and then heads back to Chicago. Hoping to reconnect with Darius, Nina and Josie go to the Sanctuary, to no avail. Darius has settled down with a new girlfriend, Lisa Oacqueline Fleming). Enter, Hollywood, whose friendly competition with Darius enables him to sense a prime opportunity for one-upmanship. Wood breaker points by the portrait studio where Nina now works to cheer her up. Tensions run high when Wood brings Nina to Sheilas house for a party that he knows Darius will be at tending.Nina, signature like a pawn in a bad game of male egos, asks Wood to take her home. He refuses and Darius comes to her rescue. Its their first meeting since she went to New York. She confesses she still has feeling for him, and he assures her that Lisa means nought to him. Swooning, they make up and head for a date at the famous Blackstone Hotel. at that place, legendary Chicago DJ Herb Kent is hosting a steppers ball, featuring the inimitable dance style popular in Chicago. On the floor, Nina and Darius become a eam again. The fire is relit as they complete the evening with a wet, but romantic walk close to Buckingham Fountain.Nina starts to get habits from Darius and vica versa. She starts smoking and develops a love for poetry. In return, he develops an eye for photography. But soon after their expiation everything starts to crumble. Nina finds Lisas telephone number around Darius apartment, and he gets the occasional Sam call that takes him out of the room. The an aesthetize of distrust rears its ugly head. Darius tries to smooth things over by whipping out her camera and telling her to take her clothes off, as she id in an earlier scene.But it is too late. Come get your things from my apartment wherefore would you be with someone you dont trust? The scene ends with Nina returning the key. Because of a Job tin from Vibe magazine in New York, Nina decides to move. Josie, serving as a reluctant Cupid, intercedes by telling Darius of Ninas plans. He takes the cue and makes a gallant but futile lather to talk to Nina forward she leaves. A year later, his book has been published, her career is off and running and Nina has been sent to Chicago to shot a Michael Jordan layout.Looking in vain for Darius t the Sanctuary, Nina takes the stage to recite a poem of her own. Startled, Darius turns and listens to her recital, which is about love remembered. Funny what you can do in front of a room full of people, she says, and cant do in front of one p erson. The movie ends with Nina leaving the Sanctuary and seeing Darius outside. Darius starts off by saying, Longtime no see. I enjoyed your poem. Nina, there have been mistakes on both sides and I apologize for my part. I want to put the past in the past. Once again your timing couldnt be worsened you always want what you want hen you want it why is everything so urgent, Nina says. Nina, this here, right now, at this very moment, is all that matters to me. I love you and thats urgent like a mother fucker. love Jones shows that love can be inconvenient. It encourages everyone to approach love the way Nina and Darius do scared, awkward, and even sometimes alone. Theres the obligatory handful of tragic misunderstandings, prideful arguments, over-orchestrated sex scenes, and betrayal and reconciliations. ove Jones steps back, allowing its characters to near examine what is happening to them. They analyze their own instincts wonder about each others feelings and even plot little tr aps to reveal the others true intentions Nina and Darius relationship is built upon the use of some key things sex and sexual invitations, pick-up lines and relationship openers, music and poetry, the actions of all the movies characters, friends being confidants and advisors, and the use of Baxters techniques to realise information about the relationship play vital roles.Their relationship proves that the movement in and out of the fundamental interaction stages is not set in stone. The stages conform to your situation. Nina and Darius seem to ollow this type of pattern initiating, experimenting, intensifying, terminating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, bonding, stagnating, terminating, and initiating. They are also struggle with the roles society has laid out for women and men. And are both trying to fgure out how to play without getting contend.Theyre both secretly wondering how you get beyond playing and move on to the love. When youre in your twenties, as Nina and Darius were, loving someone outside your friends and family can seem like a tax for Mother Theresa. We twenty- somethings have been unleashed from our parents and the chances to experience exual encounters of all sorts are numerous. But flirting and playing is one thing. build relationships with the human objects of our desires is a challenge that many of us fail at miserably.At one point in the movie, Darius asks his married friend Savon if he believes in the concept of soulmates. Savons response is that it depends on what sidereal day you ask him. Youre with who youre with, he says. Love and marriage are pretty much what you make of them. love Jones doesnt fully answer the soulmate question. In the end, we are only promised that Nina and Darius will be together as long as their belief in he possibility of romance lasts. eeting in a bar, the reluctant coupling, the Jealously and conflict, even a mad rush by one lover to stop the other from leaving on a train. love Jones showed me that there is Just no way around it Love between a man and a woman is hard work. A conscious effort to relate to the opposite sex is whats needed if were going to get the satisfaction we beseech from that someone special. Our twenties can be about a lot more than simply getting our groove on. We can build lives with people while we are enjoying the fresh experiences we are having in our youth.