She's Gotta Have It

Bruckner, D.J.R. "She's Gotta Have It." New York Times 8 Aug. 1986. New York Times, 8 Aug. 1986. Web. 18 Apr. 2010. .

Bruckner claims in this article that while the storyline to the movie is excellent, the technical aspects are often messy. The sex scenes are humorous in ways Spike Lee did not intend for them to be. In addition, this author thought that the lead, Nola Darling, was unconvincing at times. For example, he says that her character was too intelligent not to realize that her strive to be independent was counterproductive towards what she really wanted. This movie review mostly focuses on the technical aspects of the movie, such as the use of black and white and the still shots from the sex scenes, but also addresses the motives behind each character.

Henderson, Eric. “She’s Gotta Have It: Review.” Slant Magazine. 14 Jan. 2008: . Print

http://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/review/shes-gotta-have-it/1267

Sting Magazine writer Eric Henderson provides a seemingly sarcastic critique and character analysis in his review of She’s Gotta Have It. He describes the movie as ‘cheekily dialectical’ and points out all the negative character traits in Nola’s suitors. E. Henderson also describes the scenes as free form and improvisational as far as the monologues appear. Another important point is that the black and white cinematography is used to focus on the characters rather than the scenery.

Henderson, Stuart. “She’s Gotta Have it” Popmatters Magazine. 14 Jan. 2008. Print.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/shes-gotta-have-it/

Henderson claims that Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It is daring and intellectual pseudo- documentary of Nola Darling and her three lovers. Henderson analyzes Lee’s first influences in film and supports his observations with the quote “a very young filmmaker’s combination of fresh, innovative techniques and blatant borrowing from his forebears.” Henderson also writes about Spike Lee’s digression of subtlety in is later works when he addresses racial issue. She’s Gotta Have It has references but is not nearly as aggressive as Do the Right Thing. This particular movie also features characters based on people that Spike Lee has actually known.

Murray, Noel. "She's Gotta Have It." AV Club. Onion Inc, 12 Feb. 2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2010. .

This critic’s claim is that the movie uses female sexuality and poorly shot sex scenes to compensate for the film’s lack of story. However, She’s Gotta Have It promoted a new type of black film in which black life was no longer examined through the theme of crime and poverty. One of this critic’s main arguments is that he enjoys Spike Lee as a director because of the artistic style of the movie especially in spite of the low budget, but does not see him as a good writer because, in Murray’s opinion, the movie has a poor storyline.

Nicolas, Rapold. “The Rise of Brooklyn’s Great Street Artist.” The Sun: New York. 15 Jan. 2008. Print. http://www.nysun.com/arts/rise-of-brooklyns-great-street-artist/69545/

Rapold believes that She’s Gotta Have It is very different from Lee’s other production and studies the different ideas of masculinity. The movie also analyzes Nola’s struggle of self ownership in the face of men wanting to ‘own’ her body. Rapold further analyzes the characteristics of the three men: Jamie who is kind but boring, Mars immature but confident, and Greer, cocky but fun. It becomes apparent that combined the three would make the perfect lover for Nola. Rapold mentions elements of New York like the Brooklyn Bridge and Knicks quotes that are a stamp of Spike Lee’s personal taste.

Variety Staff, comp. "She's Gotta Have It." Variety 1 Jan. 1986. Reed Elsevier Inc. Web. 18 Apr. 2010. .

The critics in this review call the movie “a flawed attempt to examine an independent young woman of the 1980s.” They go on to imply that the movie’s theme of a young woman trying to find herself is too prominent, almost to the point of being cliché. This article makes little mention of the artistic style of Spike Lee except that his movie was decent considering the small budget. The main focus of the article is the analysis of the characters of Nola and her suitors. Overall the article argues that the movie was poorly made, however the characters were compelling.