Aaron Loves Angela (1975)

Comedy, Crime, Drama /
5.7/10
83% – Audience

Aaron Loves Angela Storyline

Aaron and Angela, two young adults living in the Harlem ghetto of New York City, are deeply in love with each other. The only thing standing in the way of their love is their families. Aaron is black, while Angela is Puerto Rican, and neither family wants one of their own to associate with the others. As the pair rebel against the prejudices of their families, they soon find the conflict spreading out to their friends and neighbors, until the hatred threatens to spiral out of control.

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Aaron Loves Angela Movie Reviews

A few great moments don’t make a great movie.

Ill defined characters, rural stereotypes and an unfortunate lack of spark leads this movie to be a nearly complete disappointment. Kevin Hooks, playing Aaron, has potential, and strives to create a flesh and blood character that keeps changing gears thanks to inconsistencies in the script. He’s basically a decent young man striving to be the next best thing in basketball, but more of the script shows him going between getting into trouble, dealing with a disappointed and bitter father (Moses Gunn, giving a great performance) and romancing the Puerto Rican Irene Cara (as Angela) who likes him in spite of racial differences (and threats towards him from Puerto Rican neighbors of hers. He makes a series of mistakes (treating her like a cheap trick in a moment of macho weakness) yet can’t resist her when she finally comes around, affirming the fact that he is falling in love.

A subplot involves Aaron’s prostitute neighbor (Ernestine Jackson) who is involved with obvious drug lord Robert Hooks (Kevin’s real life father) and seemingly trying to get him out of the business. This is distracting from the main plot, only there seemingly there to add a bit of a “blaxploitation” element to the film and souring the romantic element of the main story. Cara is unfortunately a bland actress, only coming to life when she breaks down after his awkward attempts to seduce her in an abandoned building.

The 1970’s location footage is superb, showing the graveyard like feel of all of Harlem and taking the viewer to the Bethesda Fountain, outside Madison Square Garden and to Lincoln Center with later scenes on the Brooklyn Bridge and finally at Grant’s Tomb after some major violent twists. Gunn is particularly effective in a drunken scene where he takes out his frustrations on his son then breaks down to apologize. If the script had better focus on the positive elements of the story and better character development, this could have been a period black drama with purpose rather than the rambling mess it ends up being.

Mostly a disappointment

I had wanted to see this movie for many years, since it was the first movie listed in Leonard Maltin’s classic movie review book, and the book gave the movie a favorable review. Today I finally got to watch it after recording it off Turner Classic Movies, and I was pretty let down by it. I feel I should mention that though the movie advertises itself as a kind of updated urban Romeo and Juliet tale, surprisingly there is almost no feuding between any of the African Americans and Puerto Ricans showcased. It still could have worked as a drama or a romance, but these angles of the movie are also a letdown. I never really saw what the two youthful protagonists found attractive with each other or got a sense of their building (and challenging) relationship. For example, they actually seem to already know each other very well when they are shown talking to each other for the first time in the movie. Actually, there are tell-tale signs that the movie was cut down significantly in the editing room, since there are other plot points that are not seen, or are talked about long after they happened offscreen. Also, the very ending of the movie is kind of hard to believe considering who the two protagonists were struggling with (mobsters) just before the final few seconds. The movie does have some value in that it is kind of a time capsule, showcasing a pre-cleaned up New York City in the mid ’70s, as well as showing the attitudes and fashions of the NYC citizens of the time. But other than that, there isn’t much of substance here. It’s easy to see why this movie has to date never received a home video release.

Not quite Shakespeare…

The synopsis claims, `It’s a classic Romeo and Juliet story of forbidden passion, Harlem style, when AARON LOVES ANGELA.’ If the idea was to remake Shakespeare, director Gordon Parks Jr. (the same Parks from Superfly fame) failed miserably. There is no tragedy, or forbidden love, and no one vital to the story dies. If the idea was to make a film about growing up and those choices we make when we’re young that help us to grow, it succeeds fairly well. Aaron (Kevin Hooks) is a talented basketball player who lives with his father (played convincingly by Moses Gunn), a former All-American who never made it and is living out his dreams through his son. We know nothing about Angela’s (introducing Irene Cara) family other than she lives with her mom. Aaron lives in Harlem, Angela in Spanish Harlem, and naturally they must meet in seclusion; the one time Aaron tries to walk her home he gets chased away. Aaron’s friend finds him a room where the two young lovers can go and be in private. Unfortunately, the rundown apartment complex they stay in winds up being the exchange point of a drug deal with some heavy cheese switching hands. Anything else would be spoilers, but Aaron finds himself in a situation where he has to make some major decisions in a short amount of time. Worth a watch if it’s ever on TV, but I wouldn’t rent it. It’s a shame that Gordon Parks Jr. died after only a few films, he showed a unique talent, but never had the budget to really make a splash. Rating : 24 out of 40

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