Let’s hear from someone in the know: Interracial relationships in America are weird in ways that are often hard to plan for. Challenging assumptions is uncomfortable, disorienting, and makes mistakes. There can be catharsis in making fun of this in speech or art, and it is a channel of growth and even overcoming the aforementioned difficulties. Yes, that’s where the appeal of Netflix’s new comedy-like films lies. you come in.
modern take guess who’s coming to dinner, you Step into the difficulties and awkwardness of interracial romance and the cultural exchanges and conflicts that come with it. Director Kenya Barris (dark) in a script by Barris and Jonah Hill, the film follows Ezra Cohen (Hill), a white Jew who falls in love with Amira Mohammed (Lauren London), a black Muslim woman. With beats that feel pretty true to life, neither quite predicts how weird their respective families will get about their relationships. youThe story feels like it was put together on the fly.
Looking you It’s a disorienting experience. The scenes don’t feel like they’re written or directed, they’re just suggested, like an improv show that quickly went off the rails. Every transition introduces another scenario in which the two characters are forced to misunderstand, leading to awkward riffs, until the scene arbitrarily ends. This approach applies to all kinds of moments. When a member of the Cohen family synagogue asked Ezra about penises. When Ezra’s father (played by David Duchovny) bickers about how much he loves Xzibit. when his mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) attempted a performance that was offensive if inclusive. Or how many times Ezra pretends to be well versed in black culture that Amira’s father Akbar (Eddie Murphy) calls him out for it.
Photo: Parish Lewis/Netflix
If you’ve watched a lot of Jonah Hill comedies, you can recognize this pattern — its logical because Hill’s character hits a hole and can’t stop digging for himself. It’s the rhythm of awkward stutters and drones that end in ignorance. when they know they should. It’s fun when an actor is a supporting character, but not when he’s one of the main characters.
In this mode, you Disingenuous as a whole, and disingenuous when it comes to Ezra’s character. you Amira has to suffer through his ignorance and the discomfort his family causes her.
This is all disappointing because even though the film is largely undirected, it still stacks up with comedy legends and some can actually get a good laugh out of Hill’s signature mumblecore bullshit. Ezra’s podcast His partner and best fried It’s interesting none the less. And while Eddie Murphy plays Akbar in a cool, distant and irritating way, brief moments of mischief emerge when paired with other comedians like Mike Epps and Deon Cole. Tronstyle wedding.
There’s a strange notion that good comedy is aggressive, but it’s actually empathetic. To make someone laugh and do it consistently, you first have to understand something about them. This is the reason for the impulse behind movies like: you Comedy can be good because it can make a lot of hay out of the misunderstandings that people have about each other as they bump into understanding. youBut it gets old quickly, mainly because it’s concerned with ignorance. The most aggressive comedies aren’t ignorant or bigoted, they’re just plain lame.
you Now available for streaming on Netflix.
