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9

LaurnFeb 20, 2006

really enjoyed it. covered material (racial issues from the black perspective) excellently.

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8

LynnW.Feb 11, 2006

Great lead actors. A formula movie in many ways, but with a realness and naturalness to the characters that's often missing from romantic comedies.

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8

DavidJ.Feb 4, 2006

I really liked this movie. This is the movie I wished Guess Who could have been. Being a white man in a relationship with a beautiful, intelligent, hard working black woman. This movie is what we have been waiting for for 17 year. My wife I really liked this movie. This is the movie I wished Guess Who could have been. Being a white man in a relationship with a beautiful, intelligent, hard working black woman. This movie is what we have been waiting for for 17 year. My wife really loved the interaction with the girlfriends and early scenes with Brian. I really liked the father's statement to Kenya in the privey. This was reminscent of a talk my wife's dad had with me.… Expand

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8

MarkB.Feb 14, 2006

Sadly, the worse-than-mediocre box office of this Would-Be 2006 Valentine's Day Must-See will reduce it to a Trivial Pursuit question a few years from now: "What film starred and was directed by two different women named Sanaa?" Sadly, the worse-than-mediocre box office of this Would-Be 2006 Valentine's Day Must-See will reduce it to a Trivial Pursuit question a few years from now: "What film starred and was directed by two different women named Sanaa?" That's a real shame, because Sanaa Hamri's account of Kenya (Sanaa Lathan, wonderful in Love and Basketball and about as credible an action heroine as Alien vs. Predator had any right to expect), an appealing but somwhat hidebound professional African-American woman seeking a relationship with an IBM--Ideal Black Man--but develops one with a hunky, laid-back landscape gardener (Simon Baker, resembling an amalgam of Paul Walker and Gilligan's Island's Russell Johnson) who's markedly deficient in one-third of the acronym, is abundantly sweet, smart and subtly subversive. If you had a few problems with the target choices of Cedric the Entertainer's take-no-prisoners, gleefully non-p.c. rants in Barbershop, be aware that this film's first 15 minutes feature a VERY frank conversation between four girlfriends in which nothing's sacred--not Jesse Jackson and certainly not the Muslim religion (a very risky thing to be joking about these days, even if you're NOT a Danish cartoonist!) While Hamri and screenwriter Kriss Turner certainly don't ignore the unfortunate reality that Black businesswomen have to work twice as hard to be considered as good at their jobs as their White counterparts (love that shot where Kenya is meeting with a White client who, even after she tells him that she's the one he'll be working with, disbelievingly looks out the door to see who else will be joining her), they also make gardener Brian the more sympathetic of the two. In fact, he's treated so condescendingly (if not downright rudely) by Kenya's somewhat pretentious mom (Alfre Woodard), hypocritical brother (Donald Faison), most of her friends (and enen, sometimes, Kenya herself!) that if White characters were treating a Black individual this way in another film, audiences of both races would be understandably and justifiably outraged. Not only do Turner and Hamri avoid all the obvious mistakes, evasions and copouts (Brian ISN'T too perfect to be true, a Black yuppie interested in Kenya who's set up as the Other Man isn't portrayed as a buffoon, and even Kenya's mother and brother are allowed to have moments of compassion and wisdom), but Hamri's direction is extraordinarily graceful. She's wonderful at handling the reactions of disinterested background figures and extras, and includes an incredibly lovely, profound and poignant sequence the morning after Kenya's and Brian's first night together; both are bathed in a yellowish light that makes their skin tones seem absolutely identical. Entertainment Weekly's film critic Owen Gleiberman has been widely quoted in ads for Brokeback Mountain as saying that Ang Lee's multiple-Oscar-nominated gem has the power to change hearts. So, too, in its own quiet, under-the-radar way, does Something New.… Expand

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8

RossC.Feb 18, 2006

Wow, an intelligent comedy about interracial dating. It could have delved deeper into the multitude of issues involved when two people of different races get together. Smartly, instead of getting bogged down by too many particulars, it Wow, an intelligent comedy about interracial dating. It could have delved deeper into the multitude of issues involved when two people of different races get together. Smartly, instead of getting bogged down by too many particulars, it sticks to the struggle of the main character making a personal decision that is, unfortunately, mucked up by social stereotyping and prejudice. A fun trip to the cinema that will spark discussion after the credits have rolled. What a treat.… Expand

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10

Lexx2uApr 19, 2011

Every time I see this movie I love it more. This is definitely a chick flick for black women who grew up middle to upper middle class. I loved the chemistry between the characters, the humor of two very different people falling in love whoEvery time I see this movie I love it more. This is definitely a chick flick for black women who grew up middle to upper middle class. I loved the chemistry between the characters, the humor of two very different people falling in love who just happen to be of different races and Socio economic backgrounds. From the moment they meet to getting to know each other and experiencing new things the movie makes you laugh and think. The family dynamic reminds me of my friends and I who have only seen a ghetto/hood on television or the movies and do have brothers older and younger just like in this movie. Also the doting father and socially concious mom yep very realistic from a suburban view. There was no old 70 's or 80 's prejudicial point of views in the movie, and thank goodness there was no crazy angry black woman "Sista" mannerisms that black women haters like to use to parody black women. I wish the director would make a follow-up to this movie just to see how they did or at least get funding to do more movies like this. People who might not like this movie will have comments about the plot being unrealistic and those people I have to wonder what background experience is driving that point of view. But if you take the racial factor out of the movie, it is a really sweet love story. Unfortunately, black women today are stuck with Tyler Perry who continues to denigrate us in the pictures he makes. H… Expand

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3

annbdDec 19, 2018

Something stupid and almost boring. An over-critical black woman has locked up in her bubble and does not want to get out of there. Eventually she did and take the risk to go out with terribly normal and and surprisingly patient white guy.Something stupid and almost boring. An over-critical black woman has locked up in her bubble and does not want to get out of there. Eventually she did and take the risk to go out with terribly normal and and surprisingly patient white guy. That's all.… Expand

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3

AlyelleMar 6, 2006

Not sure what the hype is. This was a HORRIBLE movie with no sunstantive plot. What we got in the previews before he movie's the release is exactly what we got in the theatre, only the previews spared us all the LONG, DRAWN-OUT, and Not sure what the hype is. This was a HORRIBLE movie with no sunstantive plot. What we got in the previews before he movie's the release is exactly what we got in the theatre, only the previews spared us all the LONG, DRAWN-OUT, and POINTLESS scenes that only repeated what we already gathered withing the first 10 minutes of the movie: She wants a black man, falls for a white man, finds a good black man. but realized the white man is her soul mate. SURPRISE! I love Sanaa Lathan, but I'm tired of her playing the same personality role in all the romantic comedies she does. "Alien vs. Predator" was a break for the norm for her. Unfortunately "Something New" was much more of the same, leaving her void of any real range and depth. The supporting characters were also useless-- Donald Faison and Alfre Woodard were especially disappointing. Their roles were so exaggerated and out-of-character and context that they both came across as bad actors. Surely even they didn't believe that the characters they played would actually say some of the things that were scripted for them to say! For instance, in the real world, a mother as stuck-up and bougoisie as they tried to portray Alfre Woodard's character would most likely applaud, if nor prefer, her daughter's choice to be with a white man. Surely a woman who couldn't wait to leave Africa when visiting would not be appalled by her daughter dating a white man. Moreover, a woman of Kenya's success in a white male dominated profession would not have been so uncomfortable in a coffeeshop with a white man! Surely she's taken her white clients to lunch or dinner in public! Another ridiculous scenario was when Kenya bumped into Brian at the wedding and Brian had a date with him! No high-class, educated, professional BLACK woman would have "lost it" to the extent of having an asthma attack and griping in the Rabbi's office while the wedding was going on. If we are really to believe these four women were professional black women, we have to see the discrepancy in their behavior during the wedding. I was appalled when one of them yelled out "black ashy babies" while the wedding was commencing outside! Either your charcters are classy/sophisticated, or they are ghetto-- they can't be both! The script was just too poorly written for the movie to have real substance. And, the Spike-Lee-esque camera tricks were aggravating, particularly the table scene when the four friends were talking about what they want in a man. We circled that table the entire scene-- I was dizzy! It was effective the first few seconds as each of the 4 characters spoke, but it didn't need to last that long. Furthermore, some of the scenes look like they were shot in 16mm with the same cheap bolex cameras I used my freshman year in film school! This was a low-budget movie with a low-budget outcome on the the silver screen. Save your money. Wait 'til someone else rents it on DVD and watch it with them. By the way, I was going to give this movie a 1, but I bumped my score up two points because Simon Baker gave the only outstanding, realistic, substantive performance. I'm looking forward to seeing much more of him.… Expand

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0

JoshC.Jan 21, 2007

The success of Paul Haggis's "Crash" proved that the only way for an American movie to deal with the problem of race is to drop it on an audience's head like an anvil. "Something New" is a similarly blunt object. There's a The success of Paul Haggis's "Crash" proved that the only way for an American movie to deal with the problem of race is to drop it on an audience's head like an anvil. "Something New" is a similarly blunt object. There's a profound way for the races to talk to each other (or not to), but Hollywood doesn't seem to have figured it out. Instead, Kenya seems forced into racializing her frustrations at work, and Brian is made to appear insensitive for not wanting to hear her vent. This is a useful way to kick off a town-hall meeting. It's a terrible start for a love affair. Sanaa Hamri directed this movie (it's her first feature) and Kriss Turner wrote the screenplay, and neither will drum any logic into Kenya. Would a woman this professional and this together, raised by academics and educated at predominantly white institutions, blanch at the idea of dating a man of another race? Especially one this handsome, independent, and polite? There might be several plausible reasons for her not to date Brian, but the movie doesn't allow her to articulate them. The problem isn't just Kenya's. Her brother (Donald Faison) calls Brian "the help" and won't even shake his hand. Her mother (Alfre Woodard) is even haughtier. (The McQueens aren't the Huxtables; they're the Carringtons.) Were Brian black and Kenya named, I don't know, Paris, and if her family and friends were as rude to him, we'd be expected to find their behavior appalling. The movie's perceptions of black and white are so petty that race begins to seem like the stupidest hang-up in the world. Kenya is as chronically dissatisfied as a lot of ambitious people, which makes her dilemma rich with social comedy. But "Something New" takes forever to turn progressive. The audience is smarter than the movie right up to the end, when someone finally clears up the apparent mystery. "The boy is white," says Kenya's dad. "He's not a Martian." Great, now he tells us.… Expand

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10

F_CDec 13, 2015

The movie was excellent. IMPORTANT: The review and "0" score by "joshC" should be removed - it blatantly plagIarizes the Boston Globe review by Wesley Morris and offers nothing new or original.

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