Broken Mirror

Random Musings on Politics and Entertainment

"The mirror... it's broken."
"Yes, I know. I like it that way. Makes me look the way I feel."

-C.C. Baxter and Fran Kubelik in The Apartment

Friday, February 17, 2006

Incredible












Audrey Hepburn, FUNNY FACE

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Something Old

There's really not much "new" in Sanaa Hamri's romantic comedy "Something New". It's a pretty standard affair about two people who are attracted to each other and spend the entire movie breaking up and getting back together. The movie even sticks with the tired forced breakup formula. The only thing different here is the racial divide between the two main characters. And in a day when Ashton Kutcher has already covered that subject, I don't think it can really be considered groundbreaking.

The movie is about Kenya (Sanaa Lathan), a wealthy black female with a long list of demands for her Mr. Right. One day she gets set up on a blind date with Brian Kelly (Simon Baker), a man who doesn't meet any of those demands, starting with the fact that he's white. She chickens out, but eventually is convinced to hire him as her landscaper, and in the course of spending time together, they begin to fall for one another.

This presents problems for Kenya. Her family certainly isn't ready for her to date a white man, particularly her sexist brother (Donald Faison) or her materialistic mother (Alfre Woodard). She's also presented with another option in the form of Mark (Billy Dee..err Blair Underwood), who fits every criteria she has ever set for her ideal man, except there's no spark.

I can see the beginnings of an interesting film about interracial relationships. Some bits of dialogue here and there (discussions about hair and the "black tax") make me wonder if the screenplay was heavily edited to make this as generic as possible for a mass audience. There's a subplot where Kenya is dealing with a difficult client at work who is obviously uncomfortable with a black woman handling his account. There is some promise to this subplot, but it is only given a handful of very short scenes that lead to a ridiculously contrived conclusion (wow, it's that easy!) and seems designed only to lead to the 3rd Act breakup scene.

I will credit the main performers for making me care about the romance. Sanaa Lathan is incredibly appealing, adeptly portraying an uptight career woman while making her sensual and authentic at the same time. Baker isn't helped much by the script, but he does a good job playing a likeable working class man who knows what he wants. The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Alfre Woodard is wasted in a poorly written one-dimensional role, but Earl Billings steals several scenes as Kenya's supportive father. Donald Faison does his usual schtick, which is fine, but I can (and do) watch that for free 22 times a year. And Blair Underwood can't seem to decide whether to play his character straight or make him a buffoon. He leans a little to the latter at the end, and makes the film's resolution a fairly simple matter.

It's a shame they couldn't make this movie more interesting. Unfortunately, it seemed to be too focused on formula that it forgot to really explore the relationships between it's characters. Let's get a real resolution to a story about racism in the workplace. Yes, I'm certain it happens even for corporate attorneys, and I doubt it's ever been wrapped up as nicely as in this film. Considering the occassional visual flair that Hamri uses, and the sparse bits of interesting dialogue by writer Kriss Turner, I have a feeling the end product was heavily edited (or controlled) by the studio. Whoever is at fault, they took what could have been an interesting film about an interracial romance and turned it into something like ... Guess Who.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

I Collect Your Head

"As your leader, I encourage you from time to time, and always in a respectful manner, to question my logic. If you're unconvinced that a particular plan of action I've decided is the wisest, tell me so, but allow me to convince you and I promise you right here and now, no subject will ever be taboo. Except, of course, the subject that was just under discussion. The price you pay for bringing up either my Chinese or American heritage as a negative is... I collect your fucking head. Just like this fucker here. Now, if any of you sons of bitches got anything else to say, now's the fucking time!"

O-Ren Ishii, Kill Bill, Vol. 1