Sanaa Lathan is a tightly wound black
executive who reluctantly but realistically falls for a charming landscaper who
happens to be white.
It’s kind of
surprising to me that movies with interracial romances are still a minor
novelty. But then, a lot of the characters in this movie wouldn’t approve, not
even the up-and-coming executive played by Sanaa Lathan. She gets along fine
with her white coworkers, but when one sets her up on a blind date, she bolts
when she sees who it is. In a twist on almost every Queen Latifah movie, Simon
Baker is the white guy trying to loosen up the uptight black chick. This is
less funny than the similarly themed Guess Who, but that was really a
comedy about a guy and his father-in-law, whereas this is closer to straight
drama, and almost wholly from the woman’s view. (I kind of wondered why the guy
still pursued her after she made her preference known, except that she’s a
looker.) The comic relief comes largely from Donald Faison (of TV’s Scrubs)
as her serial-womanizing brother who nonetheless doesn’t believe in crossing
the color line. I know there are plenty of people who agree with him, so I was
hoping there’d be a scene where one of them would get challenged to explain
why. Something New doesn’t dig that deep, but a solid lead character
makes it worthwhile.
IMDb link
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