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Brown Sugar (202)

Something that we've seen before and a lot of what we haven't, thematically speaking. That's Brown Sugar in a bag. For this audience's targeted African-American demographic, you'll pretty much know what you're getting yourselves into from the get-go, if you don't already. 1) It's a comedy 2) Central conflict surrounds a love story 3) The main characters are in the higher economic strata. 4) Predictable 'happy ever after' ending, and, of course, 5) Eye candy eerily common to this genre of film (and television). While that foundation is about as solid as a rock, the house that director Rick Famuyiwa (The Wood) builds on top of that formulaic money-maker shines like an architectural gem in its class. Although titled Brown Sugar, this movie could have easily been called 'Love and Hip Hop.' Drawing on his own experience in the music industry, screenwriter Michael Elliot uses hip hop music to guide metaphorically the movie's romance and, more directly, it's major thematic elements, i.e. let your heart be your guide in life and love, and never settle for the okidoke (the okidoke being materialism and commercialistic hip hop). Taye Diggs (Dre) and Sanaa Lathan (Sydney) work beautifully together as their practice in The Best Man certainly had its advantages. Also worth noting is, supporting actor Mos Def who most definitely proclaims himself a brightly lit star. Queen Latifah's character, while a bit underdeveloped, is worth her salt, single handedly giving comedic prowess to Dre's wedding scene. Famuyiwa's keen use of cinematic devices (jump cuts, freeze frames, unrushed pace, documentary style opening, et al) to tell this story, combined with all of the above, make for a truly unique film. Not to mention, never did I think that I would hear two black men engulfed in hip hop making reference to Casablanca, but that's just another factor in this entertaining movie that gives it its' gemlike status.

Now, the necessary rundown, after my disclaimer admonishing that this movie proved to be a very personal one for me. (I actually cried). ANYWAY:

Sydney and Dre have been best friends since childhood, first drawn together by their profound passion for hip hop music. They share a love so deep for the music that it permeates into their every conversation and life's ambition, as surprisingly, career and social responsibility linger casually in the air. The two eventually end up as revered music industry executives, with Syd working as a music critic/magazine editor and Dre a top producer. Only when they face the reality of losing each other to different partners does their repressed romantic interest in one another surface. Even when their interest is apparent to everyone around them, their constant denial exacerbated by time and a devotion to career seemingly make impossible a romance between the two. Dre even goes so far as to get married to another woman after a steamy wedding-eve with Syd, who also moves on becoming engaged to a pro basketballer, Kelby (Boris Kodjoe). Kelby is just about perfect, by the way. He's sexy, and he cooks! If only he paid more attention to Syd's first love, hip hop. Dre, on the other hand, symbolizes everything that is pure in hip hop. He struggles to promote an unadulterated music that, unfortunately, is not popular with the general public. Still, he persists with the support of his best friend, Syd. Where Syd is Dre's escape tunnel, Dre's flirtatious but awfully perceptive wife seeks her attention elsewhere leading to a light at the end of the tunnel, a divorce. But not before Dre's own marital affair with Syd. After this step, unquestionably, more denial that Syd is forced to face thanks to Kelby shining the obvious on her like a police officer's flashlight. Now, after that step, finally comes our happy ending. The movie ends just the way it begins, only this time, with Syd having to answer the first question that she asks her subjects during an interview, "When did you fall in love with hip hop?" Her answer: The first day she saw him.

- This has been a Miss Jones production.

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