She's Gotta Have It (1986)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Spike Lee

Writer:

Spike Lee (writer)

Release Date:

8 August 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

A Seriously Sexy Comedy

Plot:

Story of a woman and her three lovers.

Plot Keywords:

Infidelity | New York City | Human Relationship | Sex | Lesbian

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Tracy Camilla Johns	...	Nola Darling
Tommy Redmond Hicks	...	Jamie Overstreet
John Canada Terrell	...	Greer Childs
Spike Lee	...	Mars Blackmon
Raye Dowell	...	Opal Gilstrap
Joie Lee	...	Clorinda Bradford
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Doctor Jamison (as Epatha Merkinson)
Bill Lee	...	Sonny Darling
Cheryl Burr	...	Ava
Aaron Dugger	...	Noble
Stephanie Covington	...	Keva
Renata Cobbs	...	Shawn
Cheryl Singleton	...	Toby
Monty Ross	...	Dog 1
Tiziano Cortini	...	Dog 2 (as Lewis Jordan)

Runtime:

84 min | USA:88 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:16 | USA:R | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | Canada:R

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Trivia:

Director Spike Lee wanted to cast Eriq La Salle in the role of Greer Childs, but La Salle thought the role was too shallow, and had joined the Screen Actors Guild, making him ineligible for the part.

Quotes:

Greer Childs: If you weren't fine, I wouldn't even bother with you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Living Single: They've Gotta Have It (#2.3)" (1994)

A funny, feminist view of sex from Spike Lee

This is a completely unique, humorous, sexy film from Spike Lee -- his first cinematic effort, using his friends from NYU film school as actors. He himself plays the role of eccentric Mars, one of heroine Nola darling's three lovers. Though I'm sure Lee wouldn't describe himself as a feminist, this film looks at so-called "promiscuity" from a distinctly liberated point of view. Perhaps women need more than one man, he wonders, because it takes several men to make up a complete person! The film is set in a rarely seen milieu, that of artistic, well-educated, middle-class, quirky urban African-Americans (like the view of black Chicago in "Love Jones"). It would be fascinating from that standpoint, even it if didn't display such ruefully witty characterizations of egotistical, clueless men.

You could spend an afternoon in far worse fashion than to rent this film, and view Lee's naked talent shining through in a film whose cost probably wouldn't pay the catering bill for one of his film projects these days. The fact that it is filmed almost entirely in black and white adds to its authenticity and charm.