Crossing the Custody Court
Nicole Alpern (Jennifer Finnigan) is a good time girl; she lives off of credit cards and hangs out at parties for sport players, sometimes heading to bed with one at the end of the night. One of those players is married basketball star Ty Rivers (Roger R. Cross - Mad Money) who she starts having an affair with. But when Nicole discovers she is pregnant that all changes as first he wants to know nothing then after their son is born he decides he wants shared custody. When Nicole's first lawyer quits not only does Ty and his wife push for soul custody but she finds it difficult to get another lawyer until young lawyer Peter Marcheson (Doug Savant - Faultline) agrees to take the case pro bono as he wants to use it to make a name for himself.
Evidently "What Color is Love?" which is also known as "Playing for Keeps" is based on a true story, one which being British I have never heard of. But despite that the movie does a good job of making this story feel believable, that a young woman could fall pregnant to a sports star and end up in a high profile mud slinging court case over custody. It is the movies strength that it manages to feel believable because beyond that it does have issues and at times feels quite a low budget movie.
Now for the most "What Color is Love?" is quite obvious as we watch Nicole's character brought into question as being irresponsible and a gold digger, but it has another interesting side. The interesting side is the issue of colour as after Nicole wins the first case Ty and his wife appeal on the subject of colour and who the baby would be best raised by due to his colour. It doesn't go into great depths on the subject, playing it safe rather than being explosive but highlights the concept of what a coloured baby needs and whether the issue of colour is important.
Now all of this is good and the acting through out is quietly believable, maybe lacking the element of melodrama which you expect but still delivering the emotional aspect of the custody battle. But for whatever reason "What Color is Love?" feels low budget, maybe the styling was intentional to give it a sense of being real but it feels minimal. It also at times feels like it is having to pad out the story to make it last long enough especially during the opening series of scenes.
What this all boils down to is that "What Color is Love?" is an interesting dramatization of a true story. But it is one which to be honest lacks the power which you expect from a story which involves race and courtroom drama.
