Sylvie’s Love: Starts Out Hot, But Fizzles (Amazon Prime)

This movie received good reviews and was a hit at the Sundance Film festival, so I was looking forward to seeing it.  Robin and I really enjoyed the first hour, but we found the second half to be slow and not very compelling.  (It does, however, have a 92% Critics' score and an 81% Audience score on Flixster, so apparently we are in the minority.) The film takes place in the late 50's and 60's, and the style of the film is from that era as well.  Sylvie (Tessa Thompson) is from a loving, Black family.  (The actors in the film are almost entirely Black or PoC).  She lives in a nice part of Harlem and her father owns a record store, so, naturally, Sylvie loves all kinds of music.  She is engaged to a wealthy and well-respected man, Lacy (Alano Miller), who is in the service, but he is expected to be discharged soon. One day, Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha) walks into the record store and Sylvie's father hires him.  Robert is an incredibly talented saxophonist playing in a jazz band that is trying to make a name for itself.  What starts out as a friendship soon turns into a love affair, despite Sylvie's ambivalence about cheating on Lacy. Robert's band then gets an offer to play in Paris and his relationship with Sylvie ends.  Lacy returns home and he and Sylvie get married.  Five years later, Sylvie and Robert meet again!  Their love for each other hasn't waned, and their sexual attraction for each other is still very intense. I won't say any more about the plot lest I spoil the film for you.  The Writer/Director Eugene Asch said he wanted to make a film where the African-Americans of that era "don't exist through adversity, but rather through love."  Ashe's vision is conveyed very well in the film. Since it has been so well received, I still recommend seeing it.  As a bonus, it has a terrific soundtrack!