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SOMETHING
NEW
Nicely shot with special camera
attention to details that underscore the
mood of a character or a scene, first-time
feature film director Sanaa Hamri proves
that music video directors can successfully
make the transition from the little screen
to the silver screen with the heartwarming
romantic comedy, Something New.
Written by Kriss Turner, whose previous
credits include TV comedy series “Everybody
Hates Chris,” “Whoopi,”
and the widely popular 90s show “Living
Single,” the script works within
the generic conventions of the romantic
comedy but adds a twist with an interracial
love story.
Something New centers
on the life of Kenya Denise McQueen (played
by beautiful Sanaa Lathan), a senior manager
on her way to partner at a prestigious
accounting firm, but not so successful
in her personal life. After another lonely
Valentine’s Day, Kenya decides to
go on a blind date with architect Brian
Kelley (played by Australian heart-throb
Simon Baker). She’s opened-minded
until she meets him and sees that he is
white. He lets her go, but they are destined
to meet again when he is recommended and
then hired as landscape artist for the
backyard of the home Kenya has just bought.
After a few bumpy starts, she acknowledges
her
attraction
to him, and they begin dating.
What makes this film different from other
comedies with interracial love themes
is that Something New gives
an honest view of race in America today
and the obstacles that black-white couples
face in securing a solid, loving relationship.
Frank dialogue between Kenya and
her friends and family highlight the dilemma
that although they want her to be happy,
they’d rather she be happy with
a black man. In a heated argument
between Brian and Kenya in a grocery store,
the issues of white privilege and “black
tax” (the term coined to describe
how black professionals have to work twice
as hard at their jobs to prove themselves)
surface in complex ways. The couple
actually breaks up, and each dates others
of their same race over the pressures
of dealing with race and racism.
Lathan
and Baker have great on-screen chemistry
and deliver solid performances. The rest
of the cast soundly support the movie
and offer many of the comedic moments.
Definitely a film worth seeing in theaters,
Something New indeed offers
the viewer something new in the romantic-comedy
genre by giving us thought-provoking issues
about relationships and race, as well
as romance and laughs.
Misa Dayson
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