The romantic comedy Love & Basketball is a spin on When Harry Met Sally.

 Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) and Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) are next-door neighbours who begin as rivals, turn into friends and finally fall in love. Their journey is initiated and complicated by their shared passion for basketball.

 Quincy inherited his love of the sport from his father Zeke (Dennis Haysbert), who is a famous NBA player, while Monica discovered she had a natural talent for the game.

 As youngsters, Quincy resents the fact Monica is his equal on the court. She is a girl, after all.

 As they grow older, Quincy accepts Monica as an equal, but now she wants him to notice she is a girl.

 The audience knows it's a foregone conclusion the friends will become lovers, but writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood has a few clever, unexpected moves to complicate their mating game.

 Just because Quincy and Monica love each other and the game of basketball doesn't mean it's going to be smooth sailing.

 Love & Basketball works on three important levels.

 It is as much a poignant, contemporary love story as it is an insightful sports drama.

 It's also a story about middle-class African-Americans that doesn't alienate other cultures or play into racial stereotypes.

 This is a film void of drug pushers, gangsters, disenfranchised youths and sexual abuse.

 There are problems in both the McCall and Wright households, but they are universal rather than cultural.

 Whether they're sparring or wooing, there is undeniable chemistry between Epps and Lathan and they are able to convey the maturing that occurs from their characters' high school days to their time in the professional sports arena.

 We watch and believe their physical and emotional development over a 10-year period.

 The game sequences are filmed with an intensity that draws the audience into the action, showing how it could have such a hold on young athletes.

 Love & Basketball gives intriguing insights into the world of women's professional basketball, showing how it is more revered in Europe and Asia than in America and the pressures that imposes on the players.

 The film's only real failing is that it is at least 20 minutes too long.

 You can forgive Love & Basketball its cliches and its sentimentality, but its self-indulgence is a bit too taxing.

 By the time Quincy and Monica are forced to decide their shared fates, it seems as if the film is languishing in overtime.

(This film is rated AA)

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