STARRING
Sanaa Lathan, Simon Baker, Taraji P. Henson, Alfre Woodard, Donald Faison
DIRECTOR
Sanaa Hamri
SCREENPLAY
Kriss Turner
MPAA RATING
Rated PG-13
RUNNING TIME
100 Mins.
DISTRIBUTED BY
Focus Features
Movie Rating Scale
| Grade: A+ |
4 Stars |
| Grade: A to A- |
3.5 Stars |
| Grade: B+ to B |
3 Stars |
| Grade: B- to C+ |
2.5 Stars |
| Grade: C to C- |
2 Stars |
| Grade: D+ |
1.5 Stars |
| Grade: D |
1 Star |
| Grade: D- |
.5 Stars |
| Grade: F |
0 Stars |
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"Something New" Review |
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Kenya McQueen (Sanaa Lathan) is part of the 42.4 percent of Black women who are unmarried.
Kenya is a hard-working single, Black, and professional female in the accounting field...a field dominated by middle-aged White men. She is attractive, successful, a recent homeowner and has a supportive family and great group of friends.
She doesn't have her IBM, Ideal Black Man. She is both too busy and too picky, but she's in her mid-30's and feeling ready for a relationship.
In walks Brian (Simon Baker), whom she meets in a Magic Johnson Starbucks after being set-up on a blind date. He is exactly as her co-worker Leah described, well, except for one small thing...he is White. Clearly uncomfortable, she not so politely excuses herself and moves on until a dinner party at Leah's where she runs into "architect" Brian who is, in fact, a landscape architect.
Brian is, in many ways, the direct opposite of Kenya. He is free, adventurous, passionate and willing to live, be hurt, and live again.
What begins as a working relationship when he agrees to landscape her yard (which seems to accurately be a reflection of her emotional state), develops into a passionate, tender relationship that encounters all the perks and downfalls of an interracial relationship.
"Something New" is, in reality, nothing new.
We've seen the look at interracial relationships years ago from Spike Lee in the far more spicy "Jungle Fever."
We've seen the "reverse racism" angle that we get here in the far more manipulative "White Man's Burden."
Heck, we've even seen the uncomfortable "because we're culturally different" romantic comedy before in "Keeping the Faith."
This is not a new story line.
In reality, "Something New" plays more like a cross between last year's Ashton Kutcher debacle, "Guess Who," an alleged remake of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," and the far more successful but fluffy "Waiting to Exhale."
Yet, in her first feature film, director Sanaa Hamri avoids the pitfalls of last year's "Guess Who" by crafting a film that treats each of its characters with respect and dignity, doesn't intentionally manipulate the inherent conflicts of cross-cultural dating and, refreshingly, doesn't dehumanize either of the main character's support systems by throwing in caricaturish friends, family or co-workers.
WOW! What a fresh and unique approach!
"Something New" works wonders because in the midst of its formulaic love story dwells a film with insightful dialogue that takes it in directions films haven't really dared to go.
The film is, first of all, told from the perspective of African-American professionals. Kenya's father (Earl Billings) is a department head at Cedars-Sinai, her mother (Alfre Woodard) exemplifies the widely respected patron of all things African-American, and her brother (Donald Faison) is a lawyer for a movie studio. Her friends, additionally, are virtually all success stories in themselves with careers ranging from law to medicine.
"Something New" is refreshing because, even in its predictability it dares to go a step further than most films. The conversations and conflicts that exist in "Something New" are genuinely developed through everyday encounters rather than conflicts that are dramatized or manufactured. Yet, the film ultimately works because it takes this refreshing honestly and plants it among authentic characters experiencing authentic relationships and honest, understandable responses to the events in their lives.
Kenya is not portrayed as somehow flawed because she initially doesn't date outside of her race...it is merely a product of her life, her experience and her upbringing. Likewise, her protective parents are merely doing their jobs AND responding to their own life experiences in growing up Black in a society that hasn't always supported them as they pursued their dreams and aspirations.
The journey that the relationship between Kenya and Brian takes is familiar, yet strangely compelling. Along with the predictable twists and turns, Brian and Kenya have to deal with their own issues, demons, obstacles and fears in figuring out whether or not they can really deal with a relationship that may, in fact, always be called into question by a society still hasn't figured out whether or not we can all just get along.
Lathan and Baker are perfectly cast in their roles, right down to the physical presence they offer. Both performers exude an attractive, at times over-confident presence that can be mistaken for arrogance yet are able to transcend this appearance and present themselves as richly human. Someone should write a note to Matthew McConaughey encouraging him to watch Baker's performance. This is the performance he's been trying for years to capture in his frivolous romantic comedies of late.
Along with the leads, the supporting cast is uniformly wonderful including Billings and Woodard, who has a field day playing against her usual "sensitive, supportive" type of role. Faison (best known from NBC's "Scrubs") is wonderful as the concerned, yet ultimately supportive brother, and the friends, despite appearing once too often like those in "Waiting to Exhale," are well-developed and interesting. Blair Underwood, as an "Ideal Black Man" who enters Kenya's life briefly, offers a subdued, yet effective performance.
"Something New" is, in reality, both something new and something old. It's a formulaic romantic comedy that ventures into old territory but does so with a refreshing, heartfelt honesty that brings the material life by going a step beyond what we are used to in such a film.
The end result is that "Something New" does, actually, offer something new or, at the very least, something rare. It is an intelligent romantic comedy with a deep respect for its characters and a sense of compassion for all those impacted by their romance. Thus, when the inevitable happy ending arrives it doesn't feel manufactured or manipulated or dramatized. It feels genuine.
A genuine happy ending. Now, that's romantic. |
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© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic |
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