Thursday, March 28, 2024

'Something New' entertaining blend of race issues, romance, comedy

Kenya (Sanaa Lathan) and Brian (Simon Baker) star in Sanaa Hamri's "Something New", a Focus Features release. —

Justin Kroll
For The State News


Since the 1960s, movies about interracial relationships such as "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and "Jungle Fever" have taken a more dramatic and serious approach. It's rare we see a film like this take a romantic comedy route.

"Something New" views its subject matter not just as a black and white issue, but a relationship issue.

Sanaa Lathan plays Kenya McQueen — a successful black female working as a senior manager at a reputable accounting firm. Since the firm is run by white males, she feels she is constantly being judged and has to work twice as hard to become a partner one day.

She's a workaholic and very shallow when it comes to dating. Her friends, family and coworkers complain when she lists off her "dos and don'ts" for prospective dates.

She runs her life as if it were a list and it's not until she meets Brian (Simon Baker), a white landscaper on a blind date, that she decides to throw that list out.

Brian is everything Kenya doesn't want in a man. He likes dogs, is not very tall and the most important aspect of all — he's white.

Now this plays out like every other romantic comedy. At first, they don't like each other but she still manages to hire him to do her landscaping. The film progresses and, of course, they fall in love, but not without Kenya's friends and family disagreeing with her choice.

There is one perfect scene where Kenya throws a housewarming party in celebration of her new backyard and decides to show Brian off as her new "friend." It shows how hard it is for Kenya's friends and family to accept Brian, but also how difficult it is for them to accept that she might begin showing affection to someone of a different race.

What this film does perfectly is make sure we are never uncomfortable when these characters are on screen. Everything comes naturally and we feel their love and are as unaware of their skin color as the characters feel in the movie.

The race issue is handled appropriately without offending or forgetting it's there. First-time director Sanaa Hamri does a fine job at balancing a story about relationships and race together so the audience never loses interest in either.

Every one of the supporting actors does a superb job at never allowing the spotlight to stray from the two stars, including Mike Epps, who is known for his tendency to hog the limelight.

"Something New" is an enjoyable and funny film, but also deserves respect for its decision to focus on the couple's relationship rather than just their race.

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