Review: "Equilibrium" Borrows from Dystopian Classics (Happy B'day, Christian Bale)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 165 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Equilibrium (2002)
Running time:  107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Kurt Wimmer
PRODUCERS:  Jan de Bont and Lucas Foster
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Dion Beebe
EDITORS:  Tom Rolf and William Yeh
COMPOSER:  Klaus Badelt

SCI-FI/ACTION/DRAMA with elements of mystery and thriller

Starring:  Christian Bale, Taye Diggs, Emily Watson, Sean Bean, Sean Pertwee, William Fichtner, Angus Macfadyen, Dominic Purcell, Matthew Harbour, and Emily Siewert

The subject of this movie review is Equilibrium, a 2002 dystopian science fiction film and action movie from writer-director Kurt Wimmer.  Starring Christian Bale and Taye Diggs, the film is set in a fascist future where all forms of feeling are illegal, and the story focuses on a law enforcement officer who rises to overthrow the system.

In a dystopian future, the totalitarian regime of the city-state, Libria, has eliminated war by suppressing emotions.  The rulers believe that ultimately emotions cause humans to kill one another.  The cost of ridding the world of violent emotions, however, is the loss of love and kindness.  Books, art, music, or any kind of creativity that might arouse the emotions are also strictly forbidden, and such material is contraband to be destroyed on sight.  Feeling is a crime, and those who insist on feeling are called sense offenders.  Sense offenses are punishable by death, and the government requires its citizens to inject themselves with a drug called prozium, which keeps their emotions in check.

Of course such a government would face rebellion, and it does from the regions outside the city known as the Nethers.  To fight sense offenders in the city and in the Nethers, the government created an elite unit made of a special kind of police officer/warrior known as the Grammaton Cleric.  Stronger, inhumanely agile, and quicksilver fast, clerics use a form of fighting known as “the Gun-Katas,” which mixes martial arts and firearms handling that makes it possible for one cleric to kill a room full of armed men in the span of several seconds.

The best of these warriors is John Preston (Christian Bale), who destroys sense offenders with ease (and perhaps relish, if he could feel emotions).  However, when Preston misses a dose of Prozium, he begins to have feelings again, and he experiences a pang of conscience when he must kill in the Nethers.  Suddenly being capable of feeling, he finds himself drawn to a sense offender scheduled for execution, Mary O’Brien (Emily Watson).  There is, however, danger in Preston’s feelings.  His new partner, Brandt (Taye Diggs, who gives a nice sheen to Brandt’s bold and ruthless ambition), is, like Preston, intuitive – able to sense when someone is have feelings and emotions, and Brandt is determined to make a name for himself – even if it means bringing Preston down.

Some might mistake writer/director Kurt Wimmer’s 2000 film, Equilibrium, for a clone of The Matrix (1999).  The fancy, martial arts fighting (Gun-Kata, a style developed by Wimmer and the film’s choreographer, Jim Vickers) certainly encourages that belief, but unlike The Matrix, wire work martial arts (or wire-fu) – using wires to lift the actors high off the ground – wasn’t used here.

Equilibrium actually borrows from or resembles (in part or whole) such classic science fiction novels dealing with dark futures as Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, George Orwell’s 1984, and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and even a bit of William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson’s Logan’s Run.  In the case of Equilibrium, the filmmakers make the right choice of focusing on crime (feeling) and punishment (death) rather than on the practicality of these future laws against emotion and feeling.  In that way, the plot is free to unfold as a narrative about the struggle for freedom in a futuristic setting.  In terms of entertainment, that’s better than an examination of the hard science of using drugs to suppress emotions or even telling the story from a sociological point of view.

Christian Bale is expert at playing the tightly coiled male or the stoic warrior.  However, he’s also quite artful at slowly revealing his emotional side in ways that endear him to the viewer.  Watching his government-issued impassive and detached façade crumble to reveal a fully functional human is a joy.  Bale may not be the leading man, but he is a leading man.  Good performances from Taye Diggs, Emily Watson, and Sean Bean add credibility to Equilibrium’s concept.  Still, it would have been nice to see more character in the supporting characters.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, August 4, 2006

Updated:  Thursday, January 30, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Malibu’s Most Wanted" Still Funny

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 76 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Malibu’s Most Wanted (2003)
Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual humor, language and violence
DIRECTOR: John Whitesell
WRITERS: Fax Bahr, Adam Small, Jamie Kennedy, and Nick Swardson
PRODUCERS: Fax Bahr, Mike Karz, and Adam Small
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mark Irwin
EDITOR: Cara Silverman
COMPOSER: John Van Tongeren

COMEDY

Starring: Jamie Kennedy, Taye Diggs, Anthony Anderson, Regina Hall, Blair Underwood, Damien Dante Wayans, Ryan O’Neal, Bo Derek, Jeffrey Tambor, and Snoop Dogg (voice)

The subject of this movie review is Malibu’s Most Wanted, a 2003 comedy co-written by and starring Jamie Kennedy. The film focuses on the character “B-Rad,” which Kennedy initially used in his stand-up comedy act and later featured on his hidden camera television series, “JKX: The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.”

Brad Gluckman (Jamie Kennedy) is B-Rad, a white Jewish boy from Malibu who is a wannabe rap star and “acts like he’s from the ‘hood.” The problem is that his father Bill (Ryan O’Neal) is a California gubernatorial candidate, and B-Rad’s thuggish behavior might cost him the election.

Tom Gibbons (Blair Underwood), his father’s campaign manager, hires two actors to scare the black out of B-Rad. If Julliard-trained Sean (Taye Diggs) and Pasadena Playhouse thespian P.J. (Anthony Anderson) can convince B-Rad that they’re carjackers, they just might put the white back in Brad’s act. However, B-Rad ain’t having it; before long he’s in love with Sean and P.J.’s accomplice Shondra (Regina Hall), an ambitious young woman with business dreams.

First, let me say that Malibu’s Most Wanted is simply hilarious. I laughed as much as I did at any other recent film including Bringing Down the House. Malibu Most Wanted, like the latter film, involves a traditionally, but especially of late, touchy subject: the portrayal of African-American (or just plain black folks) and black culture in Hollywood films. The film allegedly pokes fun at white kids who embrace hip hop culture, but who also embrace it with such relish that they try to “act black.”

However, the film makes a point of differentiating between poseurs and whites who are really into that chocolate flava. A friend of mine called white poseurs, “Negro lite” – all the style and coolness without the persecution of being black. When it comes down to it, there’s nothing wrong with white people embracing hip hop culture or black language, style, fashion, attitude, and lifestyle. People of different backgrounds and cultures cross pollinate; the Romans certainly enjoyed copying the Greeks.

Some people seem to think that it was beneath African-American actors to participate in movies like Malibu's Most Wanted and Brining Down the House. Black actors just go where the work is. Lord knows that Taye Diggs, handsome, talented, and possessing a deft comic touch, should be a leading man fighting off producers who constantly beat at his door to have him be the star of their next film. That’s not happening. And Anthony Anderson is no less funny than Seann William Scott (American Pie and Dude, Where’s My Car?), so he should also have many comic vehicles coming his way, shouldn’t he?

Regina Hall is sexy and beautiful, capable of being more than just the black girl with an attitude. After seeing her in Malibu's Most Wanted, I left the theatre wondering why I haven’t seen more of her; then, I pass by a poster for the overexposed Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and a Ho. Oh, nothing on Reese. I love her, and all things being equal, Regina came into the world with the exact same chance for opportunity as Reese, right? So they go where the work is. Besides, I love the subtle, sly, and wink-wink/nudge-nudge performances by Diggs, Anderson, and Blair Underwood.

Jamie Kennedy, his writers and the director, John Whitesell (a veteran director of various episodes of many television programs) do a good job with what could have been a one-note joke that dies quickly. The script is pedestrian in a number of ways, but especially in the story’s resolution. B-Rad justifies himself and his interest in hip hop, connects with the black folk, and makes up with his dad, but there are also lots of nice touches. Hell, he even gets the black woman, which I thought the filmmakers would avoid like the plague. Even the predictable material has a nice, funny spin on it. The main point of this movie is to be funny, and it’s damn funny. Its secondary nature is to make a lot of good points, and despite Malibu Most Wanted’s often tactless script, it does that, too. When all is said and done, Malibu’s Most Wanted is funny, and in the long term, it’ll be an important work in the canon of films about black culture.

How many people notice that for all the parody of hip hop that is done in this film, B-Rad is absolutely and honestly in love with hip hop? For all the whining that many people do about how “black culture” is ignored, they should notice the adoration, even when it is disguised as a sow’s ear.

6 of 10
B

Review: "Chicago" is Bold and Splash (Happy B'day, Rob Marshall)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 35 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Chicago (2002)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content and dialogue, violence and thematic elements
DIRECTOR: Rob Marshall
WRITER: Bill Condon (based upon the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins and the musical by Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb)
PRODUCER: Martin Richards
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dion Beebe (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Martin Walsh
COMPOSER: Danny Elfman
2003 Academy Award winner

MUSICAL/CRIME/DRAMA with elements of comedy

Starring: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, Colm Feore, Christine Baranski, Dominic West, and Mya

Adulterous Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) kills her lover after he boldly admits lying to her and stringing her along. Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) kills her song and dance partner sister and her own husband when she catches them knocking boots. Both end up in the same dark and dank prison awaiting trial, clients of William “Billy” Flynn (Richard Gere), a flamboyant lawyer who specializes in representing gals who’ve killed their husbands and lovers. Under the tutelage of Matron “Mama” Morton (Queen Latifah), the girls struggle to escape the gallows for their crimes and strive for fame in scandal laden 1920’s Chicago.

Yes, it’s good, damn good. Director/choreographer Rob Marshall’s Chicago, a film version of the famed musical, is a thoroughly enjoyable and invigorating film spectacle. If this and Moulin Rouge! represent what the return of film musicals will look like, we are in for a treat. Marshall choreographed “Annie” and “Rodger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” for television. In his film, he creates lavish and electrical dance scenes of the musical’s songs and integrates them with the dark and gritty world of 20’s Chicago. The colorful staged renditions of the songs flit back and forth showing us the idealized worlds of the characters, juxtaposed against the brutal frankness of their real world. The dance numbers are stirring and attention grabbing, as visually attractive as anything on MTV.

Screenwriter Bill Condon, who won an Academy Award for writing his film Gods and Monsters, does an excellent job composing a story that can compete with the energy and electricity of the songs. That’s no easy feat. Condon had to structure the story so that we would be as interested in it as we were thrilled by the songs. Chicago’s central story is rife with engaging tension and conflict and with characters we can support along every step of their treacherous journey.

Can Ms. Zellweger, Ms. Zeta-Jones, and Mr. Gere sing and dance? The answer is a resounding “yes!” Seeing them in the staged numbers and in the story scenes is like watching six different performers. I had a hard time believing the actors and singer/dancers were the same people; I know these performers and to see them pull off these performances is a revelation. I didn’t know Gere had it in him. It’s simply stunning and worth every minute of your time to watch.

The supporting performances are quite nice. Queen Latifah’s presence asserts itself strongly on the film; it often seems as if Mama is the puppeteer backstage directing events. Taye Diggs adds a sense of style to the film, and John C. Reilly quietly adds a sense of innocence and moral dignity to a story of people ready to grab fame at any costs.

Chicago, like Moulin Rouge!, is not like your average film. In fact, it’s very different from most quality and “serious” films. Like a good drama, it’s thoughtful; like the best action movies, it’s quite explosive. Chicago is a dream work, a film that is as visually rambunctious as the best music videos, but with the strong story and characters that you can take to heart – a must see movie.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 6 wins: “Best Picture” (Martin Richards), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Catherine Zeta-Jones), “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (John Myhre-art director and Gordon Sim-set decorator), “Best Costume Design” (Colleen Atwood), “Best Film Editing” (Martin Walsh), and “Best Sound” (Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella, and David Lee); 6 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (John C. Reilly), “Best Actress in a Leading Role” (Renée Zellweger), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Queen Latifah), “Best Cinematography” (Dion Beebe), “Best Director” (Rob Marshall), “Best Music, Original Song” (John Kander-music and Fred Ebb-lyrics for the song "I Move On"), and “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Bill Condon)

2003 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and “Best Sound” (Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella, David Lee, and Maurice Schell); 10 nominations: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Danny Elfman, John Kander, and Fred Ebb), “Best Cinematography” (Dion Beebe), “Best Costume Design” (Colleen Atwood), “Best Editing” (Martin Walsh), “Best Film” (Martin Richards), “Best Make Up/Hair” (Jordan Samuel and Judi Cooper-Sealy), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Renée Zellweger), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Queen Latifah), “Best Production Design” (John Myhre), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Rob Marshall)

2003 Golden Globes: 3 wins: “Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Martin Richards), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Richard Gere), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Renée Zellweger); 5 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Rob Marshall), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (John C. Reilly), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Catherine Zeta-Jones), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Queen Latifah), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Bill Condon)

2003 Black Reel Awards: 1 win: “Theatrical - Best Supporting Actress” (Queen Latifah)

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"Dylan Dog" Finds Fun in the "Dead of Night"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 78 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux


Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011)
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of creature violence and action, language including some sexual references, and some drug material
DIRECTOR: Kevin Munroe
WRITERS: Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (based upon the Italian comic book Dylan Dog by Tiziano Sclavi and published by Sergio Bonelli Editore)
PRODUCERS: Gilbert Adler and Scott Mitchell Rosenberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Geoffrey Hall
EDITOR: Paul Hirsch

HORROR/COMEDY/FANTASY

Starring: Brandon Routh, Sam Huntington, Peter Stormare, Anita Briem, Kurt Angle, Marco St. John, Kent Jude Bernard, Brian Steele, and Taye Diggs

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is a 2011 horror comedy. The movie is based upon the long-running Italian horror comic book, Dylan Dog, created by Tiziano Sclavi and published by Sergio Bonelli Editore (published by Dark Horse Comics in North America). The movie focuses on a paranormal detective hired to investigate a murder case that is part of a bizarre conspiracy.

After her father, Alfred Ryan, is murdered, Elizabeth Ryan (Anita Briem) calls on private investigator, Dylan Dog (Brandon Routh), to find out who killed him. When Dylan discovers that Alfred’s death involves the supernatural, however, he refuses the case. You see, New Orleans is the favorite home for the undead like vampires, werewolves, and zombies. Once upon a time, Dylan was the Big Easy’s go-to-guy when it came to the undead; now, he wants no part of it.

After he finds his assistant, Marcus Deckler (Sam Huntington), dead, Dylan decides to take on Elizabeth’s case. He suddenly finds himself digging through a conspiracy that revolves around an ambitious young vampire lord named Vargas (Taye Diggs). And this plot has possible end-of-the-world implications.

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night is like a more fun version of Constantine, the 2005 film that is also based upon a comic book about a detective/investigator of the supernatural. Dylan Dog has many problems. There are a lot of characters; some of them are just stereotypes, and some are not even necessary to the story. Others are good, but are underutilized and poorly developed. The acting is mostly average to sometimes a little better – best exemplified by Brandon Routh, who is intense one moment and bored the next.

Still, Dylan Dog is really fun, primarily because it is a horror movie that looks like a proper monster movie, but manages to find plenty of humor in its various situations. No matter how gross and creepy it gets: guts, gore, graveyards, maggots, body parts, blood, etc.: director Kevin Munroe and his actors extract wit, absurdity, and comedy from the screenplay.

As Marcus Deckler, the delightful Sam Huntington steals practically every scene in which he appears. He goes a long way in selling everything about this movie. If the horror film genre had its own Academy Awards, Huntington would deserve a best supporting actor nomination, at the very least. Think that sounds crazy? Then, watch Dylan Dog: Dead of Night and become a believer.

6 of 10
B

Friday, September 16, 2011

Review: Go Have Fun with Pulp Fiction-Inspired "Go" (Happy B'day, Sarah Polley)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Go (1999)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong drug content, sexuality, language and some violence
DIRECTOR/CINEMATOGRAPHER: Doug Liman
WRITER: John August
PRODUCERS: Matt Freeman Mickey Liddell, and Paul Rosenberg
EDITOR: Stephen Mirrione
COMPOSER: BT and Moby

COMEDY/CRIME/DRAMA

Starring: Sarah Polley, Jay Mohr, Scott Wolf, Desmond Askew, Timothy Olyphant, William Fichtner, Breckin Meyer, and Taye Diggs

Some have compared it to Pulp Fiction, and Go, a film from Doug Liman (Swingers), certainly bears some similarities to Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning film. Go is alternately a dark, teen comedy, a delirious action movie, a snarky crime caper, and a candy coated Tarantino movie for the late teen/early 20’s set.

On first glance, Go seems to tell the story of the events that happen after a drug deal. The real launching point is simply the changing of work shifts between two young working stiffs at a small grocery store. From there, Go is three interconnected short movies, in which many of the characters from each short movie encounter one another. In that sense, it is similar to Pulp Fiction, but only stylistically and superficially.

In one story, Ronna Martin (Sarah Polley) tries to raise rent money by selling ecstasy to two men (Jay Mohr and Scott Wolf) looking to buy from her co-worker, Simon Baines (Desmond Askew), who normally deals drugs. When Ronna is forced to ditch the drugs, she has to scam Simon’s supplier, a nasty little thug named, Todd (Timothy Olyphant), to whom she now owes some drug money.

Meanwhile, in the second story, Simon tears through Las Vegas with four buds. Simon and one of his pals, Marcus (Taye Diggs), find themselves in an awful mess at a strip club and on the fun from the owners.

In the third story, Adam (Wolf) and Zack (Mohr) find themselves in a predicament over drugs with the police. Their situation becomes more precarious when an undercover officer shows special interests in the two buddies, and the drama doesn’t let up when the two later become involved in a hit and run.

Go is a comedy, although there are times when it seems too dangerous to be funny, but even those tense moments unravel and reveal themselves to be uproarious situations. John August’s script is filled with over the top moments that make sense in a strange way instead of simply being over the top or just too much. It’s outlandish and absurd, but stunningly well put together. The movie plays at being very violent, but it’s mostly cartoonish, as if the film won’t quite acknowledge how painful violence can be. Or maybe, this is just part of the hedonistic life the film portrays. It’s all done in fun, and at the end of the day, all the players get to walk away from their various little “car wrecks,” though maybe an occasional fatal mistake would teach them all a lesson. Well, maybe not. They’d be slacking, doing drugs, and playing with guns the very day after burying a homie who shot himself playing with a gun or overdosing on ecstasy.

I give Liman much credit for directed this very funny film. It’s slick and glossy, but incredibly well executed. On the surface, it might seem like a rave culture version of Pulp Fiction, though it does owe more than a nodding acknowledgement to that film. However, it’s a modern, violent physical comedy where each actor and filmmaker has to hit his marks. Liman plays with incredible timing, and most of the time he gets it right. One misstep, and the film falls apart. Luckily, the film doesn’t begin to shake to pieces until the very end, but up until the closing scenes, Go is near flawless and near perfect. I’ve rarely laughed so hard at something so obviously meant to be eye candy. But Liman’s film is gourmet candy, thoughtfully concocted by a director determined to give his audience a good show. Most Tarantino clones were content simply to copy, whereas Liman and screenwriter John August were determined to give us a lurid taste of pulp fiction made from their own very best recipe.

7 of 10
B+

Movie Review: "Brown Sugar" Was Much Needed

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 62 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Brown Sugar (2002)
Running time: 109 minutes (1 hour, 49 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual content and language
DIRECTOR: Rick Famuyiwa
WRITERS: Michael Elliot and Rick Famuyiwa, from a story by Michael Elliot
PRODUCER: Peter Heller
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Earvin “Magic” Johnson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeff Barnett and Enrique Chediak (director of photography)
EDITOR: Dirk Westervelt
Black Reel Award winner

ROMANCE with elements of drama

Starring: Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Mos Def, Nicole Ari Parker, Boris Kodjoe, and Queen Latifah

National Basketball Association legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson entered the world of filmmaking as executive producer in what 20th Century Fox billed as a hip-hop romance, Brown Sugar. The truth of the matter is that the hip-hop has very little to do with the romance other than being window dressing. The fact of the matter is that Brown Sugar is actually a nice romance.

Dre (Taye Diggs) and Sidney (Sanaa Lathan, Love & Basketball) have been friends since childhood. Dre is a successful record executive and Sidney wrote articles on hip-hop music for the Los Angeles Times before moving on to run XXL magazine. They’re each other’s best friend, sharing the good times and the bad and sharing gossip and the intimate secrets of their lives. They only once came close to consummating their deep friendship as serious love, but avoided it. However, when Dre rushes into marriage with Reese (Nicole Ari Parker, Remember the Titans), a high society money girl that he hasn’t known very long, Sidney has mixed feelings, and her deeper love for Dre begins to surface.

Director Rick Famuyiwa (The Wood) and co-writer Michael Elliot seemed determined to make a film that’s simply about romance in which hip-hop is as important to the story as the romance is. Both characters are obviously big fans of hip-hop; both their careers are built around it. The writers even have the characters mouth platitudes about how great hip-hop is. But no matter how much they talk about hip-hop, rap music, or whatever you want to call it, the story of the film is about two friends finally succumbing to the love they have for each other that they both denied for so long, a denial that has one in a bad marriage and the other about to enter into one. The hip-hop love jones is strained and forced, and it severely hampers the romantic center of this movie; the love story is natural and flows.

This film may not be as well known as more “mainstream” and “traditional” romantic films like Sleepless in Seattle or When Harry Met Sally, but Brown Sugar is good. It’s not perfect, but when I was growing up, films like this simply didn’t exist. They couldn’t; racist Hollywood didn’t want to make them, and the beast always claimed that there was no audience for such a film. Well, there’s always an audience for good films; it may not be as large as the audience for Titanic, but people will find a good movie.

I must say that the performances outshine the film. Taye Diggs is a good actor, and he has the stature and emotional range to play a leading man. Can’t you just see how much fun he would have been in something like Boomerang? Ms. Lathan is new to me, but I like what she has to offer. She easily skates through her character of this soft script, managing to be a comedian, a heroine, and a lovelorn professional gal just looking for true love. Queen Latifah adds spark to this film, although her part is quite small, but her hip-hop colleague, Mos Def, is another find. He played the sidekick very well, and he manages to be “real” as a hip-hop artist without once calling a bitch a ho or threatening to peal a nigga’s cap back. He’s a natural, quite comfortable on screen, and I hope to see more of him.

If Magic Johnson has more films like Brown Sugar up his sleeves, by all means, he should go to fewer Laker games and more studio briefings.

6 of 10
B