We’ve been missing good rom coms and we were rooting for this one. It has a great cast and a message, but tries to oversimplify this couple’s obstacles through comedy. Jonah Hill, in his most likable role, and the striking Lauren London are an awkward pairing trying to pull off this alternate version of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Hill is funny, preoccupied with his multi-color hair and obsessed with sneaker culture. Somewhat stereotypical performances from Eddie Murphy and Julia Louis Dreyfus provide a few comedy high points, but are also very culturally revealing.
Religious and racial differences are the basis of this film written and directed by Kenya Barris (Blackish, Coming to America, Barber Shop) who co-wrote it with Jonah Hill (Don’t Look Up, Moneyball, Jump Street movies). It opens in a synagogue during a high holiday service with Ezra (Hill) being outrageous and disrespectful. He works in finance, but dreams of being a full-time podcaster with his cool collaborator, Mo (Sam Jay). Ezra’s patter is a little fast and heavy-handed with inaccurate street slang. An awkward chance meeting with Amira (London) ignites the spark of this unlikely relationship.
Going out as a couple was a challenge, but not as much as meeting the parents. Shelly and Arnold (Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Duchovny) check the boxes as the stereotypically Jewish, LA, cluelessly progressive parents. But Louis-Dreyfus carries the load as the most hilariously oblivious of the two. She’s exuberant, but doesn’t even know that her foot is in her mouth.
On the other side of the racial divide, Fatima and Akbar (Nia Long and Eddie Murphy) are not happy about their daughter’s choice. Murphy is Muslim, a follower of Minister Louis Farrakhan, restrained, seething and doesn’t miss any opportunity to put Jonah down. He is the true example a protective Dad.
It’s clear who wrote for who in this script. Jonah obviously tapped into his Jewish roots and Barris does same with Black sensibilities. There is some enjoyment seeing how their characters either clash or intertwine. This film simplifies that love can conquer all the societal, economic, and cultural differences that separate us.
Murphy seemed too restrained and not as engaged in the role as we were expecting. There’s one scene where he’s holding an iPhone where he seems completely disinterested and expressionless. Part of it was his trying not to accept Ezra, but it also seemed underplayed. Murphy looks great, forever young, and, fortunately, the script lets him come out of his shell by the end.
There might have been good intentions here, but like it or not, Eddie Murphy is portrayed as the most racist character. He hates that his daughter not only wants to marry a white man, but worse, a Jew. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, on the other hand, doesn’t hate her prospective daughter-in-law, she’s just ignorant, not knowing how to relate to a Black woman as a person. Interracial marriage does not carry the stigma it did when Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was in theaters. But this is an LA film all the way. with familiar locales filled with pleasing generic characters, some good bits and a predictable Hollywood ending. Along with the laughs, we’re not sure the message lands with You People?
Netflix 1 Hour 57 Minutes R
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