In the early 1970's, Blaxploitation films reigned supreme. During this era, the genre had been known for producing great movies like Shaft, Foxy Brown, and Coffee just to name a few. The genre was notable for casting black people in leading roles as well as centering mostly around a majority of black people in general. Among most films in this era, one continues to capture my admiration, filling me with laughter as well as warming my heart; that movie is, Aaron Loves Angela. What set this flick apart from the others had more to do with it's main focus: Aaron's romance with Angela. What truly adds a great amount depth to the movie is how their story is portrayed as a cross between Romeo & Juliet and a West side story. The story itself is about a black man, (Aaron) played by Kevin Hooks, who falls in love with a Puerto Rican girl (Angela).
Highlights: Moses Gunn does an amazing job playing as Aaron's father who is now a former athlete, owning his own bar. His role also helps to add a balancing touch of real life issues he's been going through which relates to the absence of Aaron's mother having to raise his son himself as well as reflecting on failures in his past career.
The chemistry between Aaron and Angela is instantaneous as well as genuine, eventually it develops into a strong passion on both ends. Even though there are some bumps along the road, they manage to pull through in the end. Another aspect it focused on was the prejudice tension between blacks and Puerto Ricans during this particular time period.
Willie (played by Leon Pinkney) is Aaron's hilarious best friend. Some of the best moments in the film center on his interactions with Aaron and others. By far, he is without a doubt, the most funniest character there.
The subplot centered on Beau, the local drug dealer/pimp (played by Robert Hooks) beautifully ties in with the main plot of the film adding more depth to the overall story. The whole story itself was nicely constructed, giving an equal amount of romance, action, and comedy with a great dose of drama. The main characters (excluding the villains) are all likable. Also worth mentioning was the acting; there were many good performances throughout the movie. I must also mention how incredible their script was, with amazing sense of quality as well as it's firm hold on realism leaving a great amount of structure.
Fails: honestly there really aren't any real issues with this movie that I could classify as bad. At times some of the lines projected come off as a bit forced, certain aspects of the emotional scenes also give off this vibe, some parts seem a bit awkward or off, like the sex scene, but I mostly contribute these problems with the era, so I don't take too much from it into account.
Final thoughts:
Overall, I can truthfully say; Aaron Loves Angela is an amazingly well written romance/drama worthy of praise. The few shortcomings of the film are outweighed tremendously by the large amount of time, effort, and passion each cast member had devoted to this project. In many ways, Aaron Loves Angela actually captures the essence of how two young adults can fall deeply in love with each other, defying all odds, conquering all obstacles that stand before them. This movie is a classic, I highly recommend for anyone into romance.
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