Jackie Long

(On TV, November 2021) As someone who sees a wide variety of films, new and old, I’ve learned to approach different subgenres with specific expectations and measure the films against them. When it comes to BET-broadcast romantic movies, my expectations are clear and reasonable: I want an attractive heroine, a likable male lead, a solid happy ending and some bits of pieces of interest even in cliché plots. I got what I was looking for in Never and Again — not a great movie in the grander context and still very much a formula film made-for-order for TV broadcast, but an amiable example of the genre, and something that won’t disappoint fans of the genre. Writer-director LazRael Lison is going for something specific here, pairing up a football-loving teenager and a musically-talented heroine, while following up with them fifteen years later to see if they can repair their broken teenage romance. Denise Boutte looks really nice as the disillusioned adult she’s become (with some assistance from Denise Garcia playing the younger character), while Jackie Long keeps up as the football player turned sports agent. Their reunion is intercut with their teenage relationship and their disappointing breakup. Clearly heavier on the drama than comedy, Never and Again does have a few unintentionally funny moments when the plot threads are showing — that scene in which an old flame pops up at his place, then asks if she can take a shower? Yeah, there’s no way this will not backfire and Cymphonique Miller, playing the temptress, does a great job selling the self-assured bitchiness of her brief appearance. Those moments are the reason to watch Never and Again even as it plays along very familiar lines. Still, it’s all fun and comfortable when the two leads do finally get back together in a last-minute finish — one of the best things about romance being that they deliver the happy finish that life seldom does.