Brown Sugar
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Movie Reviews of Brown Sugar
Movie Review: very good movie
Summary: 4 Stars
I had seen this movie once a few years ago when it just came out, and it is an interesting story. Has of course a good soundtrack and storyline. The acting is good and Taye Diggs is always pleasant to watch, as are the other actors. Good flick.Movie Review: Music/Love
Summary: 4 Stars
I like this movie because it shows African Americans doing something besides shoot each other. This is a good romantic comedy that has a good story. Childhood friends falls for each other when they are adults. It's a well done movie in my opinionMovie Review: A great mix of love and hip hop!!
Summary: 4 Stars
I love this movie simply because it mixes my favorite genre of music, hip hop, so very elegantly with feelings of love. It gives me sort of a nostalgia feeling with hip hop when watching it. GREAT MOVIE!!!Movie Review: so good
Summary: 4 Stars
this dvd should be made into blu ray asap! its a really good story and the actors are superb to say the leastMovie Review: A Poem, Not a Movie
Summary: 3 Stars
Some films are really plays. Some are novels. This one is a poem. In other words, the ideas presented in "Brown Sugar" would be better expressed as a poem than as a movie.The poem could be called "An Ode to Hip Hop," where the writer expresses how she first discovered hip hop and how it made her feel. Later, as an adult, she's not happy because she lost touch with that feeling. Fortunately, with the help of another person, she reconnected with her passion for hip hop and is happy once again. That's "Brown Sugar" in its essence.
Unfortunately, rather than write a poem, the writers decided to write it is as a film. Movies are stories told with pictures, not a series of stanzas focusing on a single idea or theme. The result is a movie that is mostly dull, flat and uninteresting. A romantic comedy that is not terribly romantic nor funny.
This is really a shame, because for many, hip hop has a special place in their hearts. Many do remember the moment where they discovered hip hop, like they remember their first kiss or first car. This film presents itself as a vehicle for people to reconnect with that feeling of discovery of something life changing, but it really doesn't.
It's as if the filmmakers felt than plot development and visual storytelling were not necessary. Because there are so many hip hop fans out there, the seem to be saying to simply take a generic plot ("My Best Friend's Wedding" all over again) with a little hip hop and you have a movie. They were wrong.
Don't get me wrong. You want to like this movie. Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan make an attractive screen couple. They have good chemistry together, but that's not enough. You also need a compelling story, which is nowhere to be found in this film.
Adding insult to injury, a lot of talent is wasted in this film. Nicole Ari Parker, one of the most gifted actors of her generation is given very little to do here. She's stuck with the stereotypical "bourgie" woman role.
Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah along with another of the better "rappers turned actors" Mos Def are simply there for comic relief. Essentially the same joke is played over and over. And to think the NAACP nominated Latifah for this lightweight role and not for "Chicago," they should be ashamed of themselves.
While the audience might get a smile or two from watching this film, it could have been so much more. It could have really been about two people's love for hip hop and how it has shaped their lives. Told in an imaginative and visual way, "Brown Sugar" could have touched not only hip hop fans, but the many that still don't understand how hip hop touches people emotionally. This of course is the real shame about this film.
It's not enough to just throw a few hip hop songs on the soundtrack with some attractive actors to make a movie. You need a fresh plot with real drama and tension, not formulaic storylines. You need to develop not just the main characters, but the supporting parts as well. And if you're making a film about hip hop, really make it about hip hop. Give it it's own unique style, texture and flavor.
For those looking for something romantic with touches of hip hop, might find something to like in this film. However, most will be left wanting more.