Sylvie's Love Movie Review - See You Later, Alligator

Sylvie's Love fails to engage with Sylvie's love.

In the summer of the 1950s, an aspiring saxophone player Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha), meets a woman Sylvie (Tessa Thompson), at her father's record store. It is love at first sight. Using the hiring sign located near the window, he kicks off a conversation asking for a position at the store. Sylvia gives a long explanation about the sign before finally concluding that no help is needed. Mr. Jay (Lance Reddick), Sylvia's father, interrupts and looks at the man. Both shake hands, and Mr. Jay hires Robert. Now Robert will juggle between his day job at the store and his night gig playing saxophone at Blue Morocco. That is not a problem since he gets to see Sylvie now.

Sylvie wants to be a TV producer. Not a big deal in our time but back then, it was almost impossible. "I mean, can you imagine? Colored girl making TV shows?" says Mr. Jay. Not so optimistic, are we, Mr. Jay? Nevertheless, it is always pleasant to see a couple driven by ambition instead of solely driven by a desire to be with each other. But where there is romance, there is suffering. This case is no different. Running Eunice Johnson School of Etiquette and Manners, Sylvie's mother Eunice (Erica Gimpel) teaches girls how to maintain discipline in front of a man. She disapproves of Robert, labeling him "beneath her station." Most importantly, Sylvie has a fiancé. If this warning is not enough, look out for other pointers, like a song being stopped in the middle of their dance. A kiss is disrupted by a call—all the signals direct towards a single agenda: Unachievable affection.

Eugene Ashe (serving as both the writer and director) incorporates Sylvie's Love with clichés as old as the concept of love itself. Be ready to watch Robert playing music in front of Sylvie's apartment to call her out at night. When she feels cold, he takes out his sweater and puts it on her. Sylvie has a best friend who immediately gets involved with one of Robert's friends. This pair is lively, sexual, and talks dirty, contrasting the quiet, steady, and shy relationship between Robert and Sylvie. Sylvie will catch Robert with another woman, and instead of talking to get clarification, she will assume the worst and leave. Her fiancé is also depicted in a bad light. Obviously, he can't be shown as a good person when Sylvie's heart yearns for someone else. He asks her to take a leave from the job when guests are invited to the house. He shows no enthusiasm when Sylvie announces about getting hired as a producer's assistant. Furthermore, he even suggests her to quit, "With money like this, there's no reason for you to keep working at all." After all this, Sylvie's Love throws in the "And I never wanted you to try to be a woman of my dreams. I just wanted to be the man of yours" line from the fiancé. Well, no evidence is provided to justify this statement. It does not feel earned.

The same can be iterated to the entirety of Sylvie's Love. You have two people madly in love, but where is the madness? If it is there, then why don't we feel it? Fingers can be pointed at its dated treatment following the same old routine. When presenting something that the audience has seen more than a million times before, one needs to either bring in a twist or commit fully towards the approach down to every beat. Sylvie's Love is an interesting case. It does both of these things but gets lost in translation. For a story persistently catching up to a couple's life at different times after separation, there needs to be a sense of loss and longing. That bittersweet feeling must be evoked, which fuels a desire to see the couple ending up together under all circumstances. In lieu, what you get is deprived of passion. As Sylvie and Robert walk on the streets or depart from each other or meet after years, you remain unmoved and impassive to their condition. The same extends to the desiccated sex and kisses. Why, even the reunion of a father and a child lacks the necessary emotional weight.

A faint glow of a raw romance shines at the record store when both of them get locked and share a cigarette to pass the time waiting for Mr. Jay's return. It is unfiltered as the characters live in the moment, understanding each other and sharing trivia (a French light is when you light a cigarette, and it only lights up halfway). Sylvie's Love needed more such scenes. If you decide to stay till the end, you will find characters making sacrifices for the benefit of the other's career. This level of maturity is scarcely found in a romantic film. Sadly, you become impatient by the time it takes shape in the movie. What Sylvie's Love offers is "ice-cold, man. It's like Pluto."

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