Most viewers who watch fast-paced, action, or thriller genres may be less enthused with a romantic flick. From a personal standpoint, I had come to the conclusion that romantic movies are the most predictable category of all film genres; of course, it primarily revolves around a couple that meets themselves, falls in love, relationship hits shaky grounds and somehow the relationship comes full circle and they live happily ever after. For Sylvie’s Love to qualify as a romantic film, it must fulfill the tenements of my earlier described stereotype; so what is so special about this 2020 emotion-evoking melodrama?

For starters, the uniqueness of the time; set in the late 1950s to the early ’60s, portrays a less complicated world. Eugene Ashe writes and directs this movie which stars Nnamdi Asomugha as Robert Halloway, a saxophonist who lends his talent to enhance scenes in this movie that will probably remain ordinary to the tone-deaf. Tessa Thompson (Sylvie) brings in astounding facial expressions that suitably adjust as this melodrama continues to twist. She plays the part of a young 50s African American woman in Harlem who works in her father’s (Lance Reddick) record store and raised by a mother (Erica Gimpel) that trains her with ladylike etiquette that supposedly befits her status.

Like most movies, the use of flashback as a means to draw the viewer into the story presents a kind of cut-to-the-chase beginning; as it introduces the main characters, then flips back five years earlier, returns to point A, and then proceeds from there. It goes through the usual boy-meets-girl iteration. and most romance movie enthusiasts would appreciate how the relationship morphs into a romance, pretty much the old fashioned way when the couple gets to the magical moment of their first kiss. The scene that preludes this is enhanced by Sylvie’s (Thompson) exceptional performance as she shows how entranced she is while Robert (Asomugha) plays the saxophone. The filmmaker makes good use of the fusion of the music and Sylvie’s face as a perfect build to precipitating feelings of love. The scene at the Blue Morocco Club where the soothing sound of “B-loved” by Fabrice Lecomte and the Dickie brewster Quartet, creates the perfect ambiance that gives Robert the perfect opportunity to literally blow his sax into Sylvie’s heart.

Beyond the romance, the film touches on other subjects like record company management; as the band gets under the management of Countess, played by Jemima Kirke, the band begins to get more opportunities that would lead to Robert’s need to move to a different city which would create a separation between Sylvie and him. I am always careful not to get into spoilers but this separation forms a major theme in the story, far beyond the experiences the band faces with their management.

The film forms the perfect couch-chill, especially with that significant other. It can also be a weepie for those that love to cry their eyes out; but, in all, it promises a pleasant journey of beautiful classical jazz and blues, good costume as Phoenix Marie (Costume designer) flawlessly represents the 50s wardrobe and a stage dance performance by Eva Longoria as she steps to Quizaz Quizaz Quizaz.