Life imitates art when two Manhattanites — pompous teacher Willie and quiet photographer Phil — become friends after a thought-provoking screening of "Jules et Jim," Truffaut's classic film about a decades-long ménage à trois. Soon, the men meet Jeanette, a sexually liberated southern transplant who promptly falls for both of them. Frustrated passions curdle into jealousy as Jeanette entertains love affairs with each in the ensuing years.

A coming-of-age story ignites when teenager Josh Sendler has to pack up his hoop dreams and move from the lush cornfields of Indiana to the harsh inner-city playgrounds of Newark, N.J.. He meets and befriends basketball phenom, Antwon Jackson, on the local court and together they make a run for the high school state championship. Their friendship is tested along the way and ultimately must prove itself in the face of the explosive n-word.