FilmSnobReviews

Title: Sylvie’s Love
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Eugene Ashe
Starring: Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Eva Longoria
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

What It Is: Sylvie (Thompson) is a driven, confident young woman with dreams of working in television. Robert (Asomugha) is a jazz saxophonist in a quartet. When the two meet when Robert starts working in Sylvie’s family-owned record store. When a courtship turns into a night of passion the two are connected. Even more, than Robert knows or will know. Sylvie has a decision to make. One that’ll affect her future…and Robert…though he may never know it.

What We Think: What a splendid film! Nnamdi Asomugha might be as good an actor as he was NFL cornerback, which is to say he’s a fantastic one! He feels somewhat stiff but I think that works for his turn as Robert Holloway. Tessa Thompson continues to prove she’s a multi-faceted, terrific actress. She is the heart and the soul and the conscience of the film. Her decisions are those of the audience and those are dictated by Ashe’s excellent script. His deft but subtle direction allowing an almost wisp. This entire film, though almost two hours, absolutely breezes by. There are points here where the romance is sweeping and the whole film seems as if it was from another time. They play like Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer six decades ago and coincidently closer to the film’s timeline. The film’s New York setting helps with this comparison. Whether you agree with this analysis or not one thing is certain this is one of 2020’s finest films.

Our Grade: A, For a first-time director Eugene Ashe, does what you’re supposed to. He lets his material breathe and his actor’s act. Luckily he’s getting great stuff out of those actors and the script is very good. Amazon Prime picked this one up at Sundance 2020 and you can clearly see why. A timeless tale of love expertly crafted by everyone involved. A must see!