Why Just Wright Got a Pass on Being a Love Story

Why Just Wright Got a Pass on Being a Love Story

The beauty of revisiting a film decade later is to view it matured eyes. When Just Wright was released in 2010, I was an underdeveloped twenty-one-year-old. Today, I am thirty-six, so my perspective has wildly evolved. I remember leaving the theater with my then-boyfriend after watching this movie and thinking this was a really great love story. I was so impressed by Common and Queen Latifah’s performance and truly thought this story had the perfect fairy tale ending. However, after revisiting this film, I beg to differ. Do I still believe this film can fall under the romance genre? Sure. However, only by several technicalities. After watching this film with mature and experienced eyes, I can see how this movie has received a pass on being a true love story.

When it comes to great love stories adapted for film, they only need a few elements:

·        Two people who are from different worlds

·        One person has to step outside their normal world

·        Disorder and drama interrupt them while they attempt to consolidate their worlds.

·        A grand gesture after their great epiphany

Two people who are from different worlds

Considering these elements, it is fair to argue that Just Wright is a romantic film. There were two people from two different worlds. Leslie, a physical therapist with a big heart and a welcoming personality. A woman who is down to earth and is not afraid to be her true, authentic self despite being constantly dumped by male suitors and dismissed to the friend zone. Then you have Scott McKnight, a single all-star NBA player. The film attempts to depict this character as being deep and real. A man who stayed true to himself and his roots once he became a famous and highly admired professional athlete. However, there were some holes in his character, because if he was really as deep and grounded as they wanted to portray him to be, then his relationship with Morgan would not have happened. However, let us focus on the elements that make this a love story.  

One person has to step outside their normal world

Then we had one person who had to step outside of their world, and that was Leslie. In an attempt to prevent her man from being charmed or seduced by the initial physical therapist, who was noted as being the best in the business, Morgan fires her and hires Leslie. This is when Leslie, our protagonist, leaves her normal world and steps into a world that is foreign to her. Not only did she take a leave of absence from her job, but she was then tasked to rehabilitate a star basketball player’s career. Her normal life has shifted, and now she is in a new environment with a new reality.

Disorder and drama interrupt them while they attempt to consolidate their worlds.

Then we see the couple get to know each other and develop a deep connection. One theme of this film is to dig deeper than the surface layer. The overall message was to encourage the audience to understand that not all women are the same. Women who are not glammed up with make-up and graced in dresses and stilettos are still deserving of love, especially love from powerful or famous men. So once this couple consummates their connection, drama immediately erupts, and Morgan returns. Despite knowing the truth about Morgan, Leslie assumes defeat and leaves Scott’s home and ultimately their connection. During this time, both experience life without each other. Leslie then melts into her distress and focuses her attention on what is next with her career and working on remodeling her fixer-upper home. And Scott is forced to experience the real Morgan. The Morgan he never met or tried to meet because he fell for the surface level rather than digging deeper. Again, aligning with the overall message of the film.       

A grand gesture after their great epiphany

After the couple is separated, Leslie’s career soars, and Scott has the opportunity to think beyond the surface level. He then realizes the value that Leslie brings to his life. During a live televised interview, the interviewer asked him about his great comeback, and he credited it to Leslie. As he is giving Leslie her flowers, he has a great epiphany and realizes that Leslie is the one for him. That, despite the camera-ready lifestyle, Morgan offered, he would rather have Leslie. The woman who loves sports cherishes things for sentimental reasons rather than for their aesthetic value. A woman who does not prefer dresses or make-up, and shares his love for music. A woman with whom he has a true connection and bond. After ending the interview, he then travels to Philadelphia with the hopes of winning Leslie back. While pouring his heart out and explaining that he would give it all up for her, she accepts, and the two are reunited.  

Considering those elements, this is a romantic film and a complete story. However, in the spirit of this film’s theme, let’s dig deeper. This film is urging the audience to be themselves and stay true to who they are. Having a shallow, gold-digging, unemployed, and homeless pretty girl was a slap in the face. Was Morgan really the villain? She asked Leslie if she wanted Scott McKnight, and Leslie is all her low self-esteem, said no. That is where my issue with this film starts. Leslie was such a strong character up until that point. Up until that point, she was assertive and confident. That scene watered down the plot and turned it into a sappy film where the undesirable woman wins. That scene painted Leslie as undesirable, and I don’t think that aligns with who her character was. If Morgan was going to be the villain (antagonist), she should have been the villain. Had Leslie been honest and said that she did want him, and then have Morgan still pursue him, would have made this a complete love story in my opinion.

However, we see Scott McKnight completely blinded by Morgan’s beauty as she is talking to talk he wants to hear despite a visible interest he had in Leslie. Then we see Leslie disappointed but not surprised. Despite knowing the truth, she just accepts the reality and moves out of the way. Now, we have a situation where two God-sisters are literally playing ping-pong with a man. And in the end, we see that Leslie and Scott McKnight are married, and Morgan is still by Leslie’s side. Like huh? Really?

In my opinion, this film received a pass and has been considered a love story because it included all the required elements to be a love story. However, I do believe this story could have been told better, with the same theme and a deeper plot. Like most love stories, the grand gesture at the end allows the viewers to overlook the transgression of the one who wronged the other. Much similar to Boomerang. Have a film where the man runs back to the woman and is willing to give it all up for her, and you will have the audience crying and smiling at the same time. Never mind the unresolved issues that were presented during the climax of the film.  Because of those reasons, this is why I believe this film was able to receive a pass on being considered a love story.