DVD: We'd Like to Bash You Over the Head With Our Themes

Something New (2/5 stars)

There was a time when I could rely on a movie released by Focus Features to be good on a 100% basis. Not anymore. The last two (The Ice Harvest and Brick) were weak, and slightly above average, respectively, but this one again falls into the weak category.

The movie is a romantic comedy about a very successful professional black female accoutant named Kenya, who like at the start of most bad romantic comedies, is not very successful in personal relationships. She eventually meets two different men; one a white gardener whom she is very attracted to, the other a very successful black tax attorney who seems like the perfect person for her but may be a little boring. Oh, who will she choose in the end?

The movie tries to deal with race issues, but like most movies that try to deal with them and fail miserably, it sets up the issues for you with about as much sublety as a sledgehammer to the face. She has trouble gaining trust in her professional position because she is a black woman. Her friends and family do not trust her new white boyfriend. This boyfriend is uncomfortable around her crowd of friends and she is uncomfortable having him around her circle of friends so it creates issues for them. The other man, however, as a successful professional black man, is seen to be perfect by everyone, except for maybe the main character.

This movie is not good for two main reasons. Number one is that the whole plot of the story is pretty recycled and boring, except for the race issue subtext. The next is that the parts of the movie that touch on that subtext are about as thin as a popsicle stick. This is definitely one to skip.