Whilst I’m not the greatest fan of director Spike Lee, I’m still keen to dive further into his filmography. His most political touching films are of no interest to me, mainly because I feel his message is often rushed or not entirely articulate enough to coincide with the rather bland perceptions of his characters. Still, those issues aside, She’s Gotta Have It throws those to one side in a thoroughly impressive debut feature that details a rather simple story of a woman and her three very different bachelors. A rather simplistic story that feels more like a character study than that of a romance, She’s Gotta Have It blends it all together relatively nicely.
The strengths of Lee’s direction are much more obvious here, engaging camerawork that paints a whole host of unique and interesting characters. Their differences are obvious, a bit on the nose, but work well for how the narrative presents itself. A film built up from its fourth wall breaks, characters speaking directly to the audience as if they were addressing someone they could trust with their greatest worries and darkest secrets. Lee breaks the conventional narrative of the genre in an amicable enough way, one that lives or dies on how interesting you as an audience member find his leading characters.
Thankfully, for me, I found them enjoyable. Engaging enough to carry a relatively short film about different single men vying for the attention of one woman, here played by Tracy Camilla Johns. Her performance is solid, definitely the most interesting one of the film, but it’s not like there’s any excessive depth to who she is. All we know is that she’s mustered up the attention of many men, and that she has a big apartment. Most of the film bases itself on how different the trio of men are, and how their enigmatic, differing personalities apply to Johns’ performance as Nora Darling. Spike Lee, Tommy Redmond Hicks and John Canada Terrell give it their best shot, but most of the time do come up a tad short. They don’t play fundamentally likeable characters; Hicks comes closest to it but even he is flawed beyond repair.
Maybe that’s the grand point of it all, that flawed characters will get their way and people aren’t perfect. But these performances feel more like caricatures rather than fleshed out, or interesting. Jamie (Hicks) feels threatened by the presence of Nola’s friends, as do the other two, but it’s much more of a focus for him since he corners the gentleman cliché. Lee’s performance engages with the more childish and youthful side, whilst Terrell focuses on the man’s man. The appeal of all three from Nora is an interesting topic, but not dealt with in any such way that feels engaging or to the point. That she finds interest in all three of these fundamentally different people is a certainly great and engaging topic, but Lee does little with this material.
Still, She’s Gotta Have It is a good bit of fun. Some nice dialogue here and there, a clean break from start to finish showcases a solid enough story, and there are even a few laughs to be had throughout. Lee’s direction is certainly strong here, some of his most interesting composition and cinematography is on display throughout this one, it’s just a shame that the story he wishes to tell is a tad underwhelming.
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