She's Gotta Have It

1986 "A seriously sexy comedy."
6.8| 1h24m| R| en| More Info
Released: 08 August 1986 Released
Producted By: 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

The story of Nola Darling's simultaneous sexual relationships with three different men is told by her and by her partners and other friends. All three men wanted her to commit solely to them; Nola resists being "owned" by a single partner.

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Reviews

Jeanskynebu the audience applauded
Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
kcfp-889-187037 I am always so shocked that people give this film such good reviews. It has to be one of the most sexist movies I've seen to date. The movie is supposed to be told through Darla's perspective (she states this in the beginning), but then the rest of the film is basically the guys take on Darla. Greer constantly puts her down racially, claiming that he could leave her for a white woman, Mars (ironically played by Spike Lee) talking negatively about her behind her back every chance he got.She's distanced from all the women in her life (Opal, former roommate, psychiatrist) and is supposed to be sexually empowered. It is debatable if she really was, but she was put in her "proper place" at the end of the film. Jamie rapes her. It is this scene in the movie that is the most disturbing for me because many people just gloss over it and see nothing wrong with it. She said "Stop! You're hurting me!" That doesn't sound like a woman who's enjoying the intercourse she's engaged in. And aside from this disturbing scene, I certainly did not appreciate the borderline pornographic shots of her body. If you really wanna know what the film is about, listen to the lyrics of the song that the dancers perform to in the technicolor portion of the film.This pattern of sexist ideologies is present in several of Spike Lee's films including "The Best Man" and "The Player's Club". Somebody needs to call him out on it and hold him to a higher standard. Just because he's a black director does not mean everything he does must be applauded.
JonTMarin "She's Gotta Have It" was the beginning of an illustrious career for filmmaker Spike Lee. It starred Tracy Camilla Johns as the sex driven Nola Darling. Her three men were played by Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell and Spike Lee. All the three men had certain traits that stood out. Jamie Street (Hicks) is cool, calm and caring towards Nola. Greer Childs (Terrell) was the obnoxious, stuck up, rude pseudo black man that thought he was better than anyone else. And last but not least was Mars Blackmon (Lee), he was funny and outgoing. Annoying at times but his wit could win you over. This film is full of memorable one liners like "please baby baby baby please" and much more. This film was heavily criticized for it's depiction of women (like all of Spike's films), lesbians (the character Opal) and the reality of it. But nonetheless, "She's Gotta Have It" opened in 1986 to rave reviews and grossed 7 million dollars (not a lot but it is amazing compared to the thousands it took to make it). What made this film a gem is that you don't find characters like these anymore. They all had something about them that was hard to resist. Mars Blackmon became so famous that he was reprised by Lee in Nike Air Jordan commercials with the great Michael Jordan, airing from 1988 to 1995 (the Nola character also appeared in one Air Jordan commercial with Mars Blackmon, the commercial only aired once). "She's Gotta Have It" is a decent start for a young filmmaker and a must see for those that haven't seen it.She's Gotta Have It- Rated R *** out of ****
slaususe2 The "she" that the movie title refers to, played by Traci Camilla Johns, is a beautiful, intelligent young black woman that also happens to be a nymphomaniac. While other people's beds are just places to sleep in, the lead character's bed is a shrine to be worshipped as evidenced by her propensity to adorn it with ceremonial candles. Her main sexual partners are a nerd (Spike), a wanna-be playboy, and a earnest young man who is actually interested in a relationship.I appreciate that Spike helped blaze for other young black filmmakers with his very personal approach to film-making but I never could understand why luminaries like Terri McMillan were so impressed with this film. It's a self-indulgent Spike Lee pipe dream, at best, with characters that I found it hard to care about. Why would a woman as fine as Traci Camilla Johns include a character as annoying as Spike's character among her lovers? After two hours, I thought I would at least have a better understanding of why "she has to have it", but alas that wasn't the case.The real value in watching this movie to me is observing how much the talented Lee has progressed since then. It's not bad movie, just uneven. It's unfortunate Spike didn't really put the alluring Ms. Johns to much use in future films. 7 out of 10.
mizkwebb 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.