Review by Steve Rhodes
2 stars out of 4
BROWN SUGAR, by writer/director Rick Famuyiwa (THE WOOD), is a high gloss sitcom
with instantly forgettable dialog. The characters are all beautiful and
financially successful professionals who dress like a million dollars and never
have a bad hair day. When the women work out in the gym, they wear earrings and
heavy makeup. Watching the characters go through the paces of their
unconvincing jobs is like flipping through the pages of GQ (or Architectural
Digest) to admire all of the perfect models. Although the plot is nominally
about the love of hip hop, the music angle is really tangential to the main
storyline, which concerns two gorgeous people who have been in love with each
other since childhood but don't realize it.
Taye Diggs plays Dre, a music executive with a great job that he leaves in order
to form his own record company that will promote a better, purer version of hip
hop. Sanaa Lathan plays Sidney, the woman he loves but doesn't know it. She is
a famous music critic who supposedly has an almost religious devotion to hip
hop. Although they are about to marry others -- he to Reese (Nicole Ari Parker)
and she to Kelby (Boris Kodjoe) -- it is clear that they will be happy only when
they realize the obvious, that they were made for each other. Yes, I know.
You've seen this plot a hundred times before.
Will they get together in the end and find true love? Well, duh.
BROWN SUGAR runs 1:48. It is rated PG-13 for "sexual content and language" and
would acceptable for kids around 10 and up.
Copyright © 2002 Steve Rhodes
| 
