Something New

Focus Features | Release Date: February 3, 2006

7.3	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Ratings

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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

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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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

0 of 1 users found this helpful

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

0 of 1 users found this helpful