She's Gotta Have It (1986)
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93% of critics liked it
(28 reviews) -
66% of users liked it
(6,215 ratings)
Spike Lee's breakthrough independent feature, shot in fifteen days on a budget of $175,000, ushered in (along with Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise) the American independent film movement of the 1980s. It was also a groundbreaking film for African-American filmmakers and a welcome… More Spike Lee's breakthrough independent feature, shot in fifteen days on a budget of $175,000, ushered in (along with Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise) the American independent film movement of the 1980s. It was also a groundbreaking film for African-American filmmakers and a welcome change in the representation of blacks in American cinema, depicting men and women of color not as pimps and whores, but as intelligent, upscale urbanites. Lee's slight tale, which carries much psychological and historical baggage, concerns Nola Darling (Tracy Camila Johns), a young, self-assured Brooklyn woman who juggles three boyfriends -- the polite and well-meaning Jamie Overstreet (Tommy Redmond Hicks), the self-obsessed male model Greer Childs (John Canada Terrell), and the comical bicycle messenger Mars Blackmon (Spike Lee). Nola doesn't want to commit to any of her boyfriends, cherishing her personal freedom. But as their relationships with Nola grow, each man wants her for himself. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
All the elements of an interesting yarn are implicit here -- save one: a compelling central figure
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, Time Out
This delightful low-budget comedy, with its all black cast and black humour, is 100 per cent Lee.
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D.J.R. Bruckner, New York Times
The film probes important and intriguing questions, even if the characters are not explored as thoroughly as they might have been.
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Peter Keough, Chicago Reader
Made for less than $30,000, Lee's first feature posed him as a mid-80s rival to Woody Allen, nearly equaling him in the psychological authenticity of his characters and perhaps bettering him in grace and virtuosity and sheer creative glee.
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Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks
Light, scrappy entertainment that flatters everything funky and fresh about Lee, tempting you to forgive what is stunted or abrasive in the film. A major swaying element is his own on-screen persona.
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Cast
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Tracy Camilla Johns
as Nola Darling
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Tommy Redmond Hicks
as Jamie Overstreet
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John Canada Terrell
as Greer Childs
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Spike Lee
as Mars Blackman
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Raye Dowell
as Opal Gilstrap
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Joie Lee
as Clorinda Bradford
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Bill Lee
as Sonny Darling
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Epatha Merkinson
as Dr. Jamison
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Kathy Banks
as Receptionist
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Cheryl Burr
as Ava
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Renata Cobbs
as Shawn
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Stephanie Covington
as Keva
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Erik Dellums
as Dog 3
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Aaron Dugger
as Noble
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Reginald Hudlin
as Dog 4
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Pamm Jackson
as Female Walk-On
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Steve Nicks
as Soundman
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Eric Payne
as Dog 5
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Cheryl Singleton
as Toby
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Ernest R. Dickerson
as Dog 8
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Monty Ross
as Dog 1
- Freddy "Five Fab" Braithwaite
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Gerard Brown
as Dog 7
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Geoffrey Garfield
as Dog 12
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Lewis Jordan
as Dog 2
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Scott Sillers
as Dog 11
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Marcus Turner
as Dog 6
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Eric Wilkins
as Dog 9
- S. Epatha Merkerson
- Tracy Camila Johns
