She's Gotta Have It

"This worthy but flawed attempt to examine an independent young woman of the 1980s was lensed, in Super 16mm, in 15 days but doesn’t appear jerrybuilt."

"Bursts with the energy and technical command that have quickly established Lee as a major force in American cinema."

"Mr. Lee has said he worries about how black audiences will receive the film, which opens today at the Cinema Studio 1. He need not limit his concern to one audience; his characters will interest everyone."

"She's Gotta Have It is a calling-card film in the best sense of the term, in that it doesn't just show what Lee can do, but what anyone can do."

"Spike Lee takes the minimalist blackout style of fellow NYU film school grad Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise and jazzes it into the funniest comedy of summer '86."

"Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It is a joyfully idiosyncratic little jazz-burst of a film, full of sensuous melody, witty chops and hot licks."