Common and Michael Rainey, Jr. (Bill Gray/Indomina)

“LUV has no periods and is not an acronym.” The press notes for LUV explain what the movie’s title is not. Sadly it misses one crucial element: LUV is not a good movie.

The film opens with eleven year old Woody (Michael Rainey Jr.) in a lush forest with his mother. Then he wakes up. He’s in Baltimore, a virtual orphan living with his grandmother (Lonette McKee), his absent mom rumored to be in drug rehab in North Carolina.

Enter Vincent (Common). Woody’s uncle is just back from an eight-year stint in prison, and seems to be on the right track. Dressed in a business suit when Vincent tells Woody he’s going to teach him how to be a man, you hold out some hope he will be a good role model.

It doesn’t work out that way. The character of Woody is drawn mostly as an observer, following along in the steps of his Uncle as he learns how to talk to girls and how to drive. But the tutelage quickly becomes destructive.

Vincent has dreams of opening up a crab shack, and takes Woody along to the bank as he see about a business loan. But a manager tells Vincent that his small business loan cannot be approved because he is $22,000 behind on mortgage payments. The struggling uncle asks the bank manager if his business loan would be approved if he comes up with the money in a few days.

Now, in real life, does anybody think a bank manager would say, “Sure, you were a $22,000 risk on your mortgage but of course we’ll loan you $150,000 if you can make good on your mortgage over the weekend. Great!”

At first, LUV’s heart seems to be in the right place, but Vincent’s attempts to raise 22 large in three days become more violent and absurd. Time and again Vincent loses his cool, putting him and his nephew in danger. Much blood is shed, but the movie finds a happy and unbelievable resolution anyway.

The movie doesn’t show much love, but is rather a cautionary tale of what happens in its absence. Baltimore native Sheldon Candis based the character of Vincent on a much-loved uncle whom he looked up to despite his reputation as a Baltimore drug dealer. Common brings a steady presence to the role, which makes his unraveling that much more disturbing, but if Vincent’s real life counterpart left a positive impression on young Candis, you couldn’t tell by the way the movie pans out.

Candis told the New York Times that the movie took eight years to make. He and writing partner Justin Wilson spent three years on the script and another five trying to get the picture made. The first-time director gets good performances out of a strong cast, but the talents of Common, Danny Glover, Dennis Haysbert and Charles S. Dutton, all charismatic actors, can only do so much with lackluster writing and poor plotting.

The movie may be a labor of love, but LUV is finally laborious.

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LUV
Directed by Sheldon Candis
Written by Sheldon Candis and Justin Wilson
With Common, Michael Rainey, Jr., Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Dennis Haysbert.
Running time: 94 minutes
Rated R for violence, language, child endangerment and some drug content.
Opens today at the AMC Magic Johnson Capital Center 12 in Largo and the AMC Hoffman Center 22 in Alexandria.