Customer Reviews

Something New (Widescreen Edition)

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE!!! Some of the reviews I've seen or read recently make it seem like this movie isn't of substance. That is simply not the case!! It doesn't pick on white people or any of that nonsense that I've read here. It deals with the real issues and feelings of today's single, educated, and accomplished black woman who just wants to be respected in the work place and loved, cherished and valued at home; truly and honestly loved for who SHE is!

This movie deals honestly and delicately with the REAL emotions a black woman may feel when she finds herself falling in love with a man that doesn't look like her or comes from a socioeconomic background different from hers. I appreciated the fact that this movie didn't gloss over those issues because in real interracial relationships, those issues are confronted head on, not ignored as if they don't exist. THIS MOVIE IS A WINNER & WORTH CHECKING OUT!!!

P.S.
Just because a black person is well educated and highly accomplished does NOT mean that she hasn't experienced racism or doesn't deal with it on a daily basis!! Being black doesn't suddenly disappear when one acquires success. I think this movie did a wonderful job at revealing this reality that many of us already know about all too well. I could completely relate to the main character's frustration with this.

This movie certainly has sparked a great deal of dialogue on internet message boards--good and bad. Personally, I absolutely loved this film and have seen it more than once. Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker give very believeable and heartfelt performances of two people from different races and backgrounds falling in love. It is simply a joy to watch this love story unfold. I really enjoyed the supporting cast and especially the banter among her girlfriends. I look forward with great anticipation to the DVD release, and can only hope that Focus Features will include the deleted scenes.

"Something New" is a romantic comedy with a social agenda. Kenya McQueen (Sanaa Lathan) is a workaholic investment banker with no time or patience for men. She yearns for companionship but has impossibly high -and very specific- standards. Urged by her friends to loosen up and "let go" of her concept of the ideal man, she agrees to a blind date arranged by a co-worker. If only the date were colorblind too. Kenya is set up with Brian Kelley (Simon Baker), a handsome, easy-going landscape architect who abandoned his corporate career to go into business doing what he loves. But Brian is white. Kenya is black. And white men are at the top of the list of things Kenya doesn't do. But she does need a landscaper for her new backyard. So she hires Brian, and their mutual attraction blossoms -to the variable horror and curiosity of Kenya's friends and family.

The moral of the story is that social conventions don't always know best in matters of the heart: You might find the companion you seek if you are open to other possibilities. Kenya and Brian's story is predictable, but Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker are attractive and interesting to watch. The greater social insight of the film may be in Kenya's coterie of friends, all upper-middle class professional black women who fret over the dearth of suitable black men available to them. Their predicament and their views of men and race are interesting from the perspective of an outsider. White members of the audience will doubt Brian's willingness to tolerate the enormous chip Kenya carries on her shoulder. And he is more tolerant and self-sacrificing in the face of Kenya's self-absorption than is believable. But romantic comedies require some suspension of disbelief, and "Something New" is entertaining.

The DVD (Universal 2006): In "The Do's and Don'ts of Dating" (5 min), 8 members of the cast give their do's and don'ts of dating and relationships. "The Making of Something New" (11 min) features interviews with director Sanaa Hamri, writer Kriss Turner, producer Stephanie Allain, and the cast in which they talk about making the film and discuss the film's themes. Subtitles are available for the film in English SDH, Spanish, and French.

SOMETHING NEW is one of those films that many will pass by thinking it is just another Chick Flick with a twist. Well, this little movie may be a romantic comedy but it is well written (Kriss Turner), well directed (Sanaa Hamri), and very well acted and has some down to earth important observations about interpersonal relationships...and, oh yes, it deal with interracial issues, beautifully!

Kenya (Sanaa Lathan - Best Man, Blade, The Wood, etc) is a beautiful Type A personality, an overachiever who is up for Partner in her Accounting Firm: she has no time to search for IMB (Important Black Man) as her list of qualifications is far too extensive. Her fellow professional girlfriends (Wendy Raquel Robinson, Golden Brooks and Taraji P. Henson - all superb!) encourage her to date to 'go with the flow' and a fellow business associate sets her up with a blind date - the very handsome, hunky, landscape architect Brian Kelly (Simon Baker - superb actor from Tasmania, Australia has starred in LA Confidential, Book of Love, The Ring Two, The Affair of the Necklace etc) - and despite the fact that Kenya refuses to consider dating any man who is not black, she does accept Brian's card and in no time hires him to landscape her new home.

The usual dating events occur: Simon is an educated, laid-back, tender, thoughtful, adventuresome male who happens to fall in love with the closely guarded Kenya; when introduced at parties Simon falls victim to prejudice form black men AND form Kenya's parents; Kenya gradually succumbs to Brian's charms and despite all misgivings they begin an affair. But peer pressures, work demands, and Kenya's self doubt jumble matters and she decides she must search for a black man. One 'just happens' to appear as Mark (Blair Underwood) and for a moment Kenya believes she has found her ideal - until her heart speaks up and she for the first time is honest with her emotions and follows her true heart's desire.

The apparent disparity between Kenya and Brian is handled in a sensitive and realistic way and Lathan and Baker have a sizzling screen chemistry. The supporting roles are in excellent hands: in addition to those mentioned above there are fine roles by Alfre Woodward, Earl Billings, Donald Faison, Mike Epps etc. This is a fine little film that approaches the touchy subject of black professional women who are unmarried ('42.4 Percent' was the working title) and for once shows an interracial film that is more a sound love story than a sermon. It is light, airy, important, and thoroughly entertaining! (This coming from a viewer who doesn't particularly care for Chick Flicks....!). Grady Harp, May 06

I have never seen a love story told like this. Simon Baker is FINE AS HELL and Sanaa Lathan is gorgeous. That's a given. Forget the fact that Kenya McQueen (Sanaa Lathan) is black and Brian Kelly (Simon Baker) is white. It is a profound story about being open to love, no matter where it comes from. I caught "Something New" in the theaters but couldn't wait until it was officially released on DVD. Yes I bought it bootleg. I watch it everyday sometimes skipping to the love scenes that are so tender it's hard to believe Sanaa and Simon don't have something going on in real life. I know, I know. He's married with 3 kids. AARRGGHH!! But I will most definitely be buying it when it's officially released so I won't miss out on any of the outtakes, deleted scenes, and special features. Even the Jill Scott song played at the end of the film will be my wedding song. This movie will forever be a permanent fixture in my library and my life.

Its about time: A movie that is as honest about love and interracial dating as it gets! The story is very basic and that is what makes it so powerful: a highly successful business exec who happens to be a single black woman (Sanaa Lathan) is in search for the perfect man ( whom she believes would be black, tall-n-handsome,with great job, good teeth and no kids..) what she finds is love in an unexpected person of her contractor (Simon Baker); a handsome white man who always has a green thumb for success...It is a widely romantic movie that got me all fuzzy inside...A must for my DVD collections..you got to see this!!!

I am a white/Italian man newly married to a super black woman. We are both in our 40's and working professionals. We went to see this movie when it came out in the theaters, and then purchased the DVD when it came out. We both enjoyed the movie very much, I guess for obvious reasons. It's a positive and uplifting movie. There simply are not many movies that realistically try to present relationships involving a black woman and a white man---especially this movie which comes at you from the woman's perspective.

Although not perfect, the movie did a very good job portraying the hesitation, uncertainty, obstacles, unknown, pain, awkwardness, and yes, passion, excitement and humor, involved with inter-racial relationships. Both leading characters were very likeable and believable. (Who said Sanaa Lathan is not attractive and talented--you've got to be kidding??) Brian and Kenya's first meeting at Starbucks is priceless. You also just have to smile and laugh at the scenes involving Brian/Kenya and her hair---white men really don't know anything about black women and their hair!!

For me, one of the most telling scenes in the movie is when Brian and Kenya are arguing in the supermarket, and Brain states he does not want to "talk about race" that night. Kenya responds that "race" is something black people are forced to deal with every day and every night. This is something I did not appreciate as a white person until I married a black woman. When you are a black "minority" woman in a predominately white male world, you're forced to deal with race everyday, whether you want to or not. I have found this to be true with my own wife. Race is always something we are ready to talk about or deal with--but it does not dictate or drive our relationship/marriage.

Lastly, I believe black women--like all women--simply want a man that will treat them well and respect them. That's all Kenya wants in the movie. Some black women only want to date black men. Some black women are open to dating outside their race. Its all good. I know that there are many white men who are attracted to and interested in dating black women--but, for many reasons, they are very hesitant and unsure about going "down this path." The world continues to change for the better. It's not perfect and there is still a long way to go, but I remain optimistic. Inter-racial relationships are not for everyone, but for some like myself, it is worth the effort. It was worth the effort for Brian and Kenya.

Something New is indeed "something new," a genuine romantic comedy with a sharp script and some laugh-out-loud moments mixed with some genuine pathos and sadness. The path to true love is fraught with inconvenience and obstacles; at least one would think so when watching Kenya McQueen (Sanaa Lathan).

Kenya is on the fast track to making partner - but only at her law firm. Her personal life sucks. Where are all the eligible black men? She and her similarly high-achieving girlfriends chalk up their track record to the miserable statistics on the marriage prospects of professional African-American women. Apparently, only 42.4% of them ever marry.

But Kenya's real problem is that she has impossibly high standards, and she has a list of what she does and doesn't do, a mental index of uncomely attributes - bad teeth, poor education, kids, previously married. She seems to be convinced that she has to land an IBM: Ideal Black Man.

Kenya is also insufferably uptight, she wears a full work outfit on Saturdays, and complains to her friends about the "black tax," the idea that blacks have to work twice as hard to achieve the same accolades as their white peers. And just like the garden in the back of her newly purchased house, Kenya is just as dry and emotionally barren.

The man of her dreams arrives in the form of hunky blond haired and blue eyed Brian (terrific Tasmanian actor Simon Baker). They meet on a blind date, but because Kenya can't think outside the box and would never dream of dating a white guy, she tells him she's not interested. Coincidently, she meets him again and hires him to landscape her garden.

The more Brian wrestles manfully with a hoe, biceps bulging, the hotter Kenya gets under her starchy, buttoned-up collar. "You need me," Brian says when he first sees Kenya's pathetic garden, clearly meaning to make this stunning but chilly woman blossom along with the seedlings.

Obvious problems arise with the race card - not so much from Kenya's family and friends - but from her own views and insecurities over dating a white guy. Brian sees women as women, and looks beyond the skin colour, he's also remarkably laid back, almost spiritual in his outlook, and he sees Kenya as "a piece of work," she's absolutely gorgeous but seems damaged by her life experiences.

The two leads are enormously appealing and have obvious screen chemistry - Baker - an actor of formidable talents - is suitably earthy and sexy as Brian, whilst Lathan is absolutely gorgeous as Kenya. The film is also smart enough to address the economic gap between the two principals, which is considerable; and there's a class barrier as well as a racial one. And in a kind of reverse racism, Kenya's brother and his friends rib Brian for being white every chance they get.

This is a lovely, elegant and beautifully acted movie, the humor coming from the characters themselves as they grapple with their perceived limitations of living in the modern world. The movie also doesn't shy away from the subtle, everyday racism that has made Kenya so guarded and distrustful in the first place.

Yet when all is dead and done, true love conquers all, the colour of one's skin is superfluous, and both Brian and Kenya realize they are meant to be together. Something New is very smart and very entertaining, and if at times it hedges on matters of stereotyping and ethnic tension while focusing on the steamy love affair, then all the better. Mike Leonard May 06.

I know I can never see enough of Simon Baker's beautiful face. But he is not only that, he is a wonderful and warm actor. As a talented landscape architect in this film, he evokes pathos and a genuine believability as the man in the romantic lead. I highly recommend this very sweet film with great performances by all in the cast.

Black and White, White and Black: It doesn't make any difference, right?
Uh, yes: it makes a big difference, particularly among the upper middle class African Americans in "Something New,": the smart and upperwardly mobile Kenya (the breathtakingly beautiful Sanaa Lathan) and her family (Alfre Woodward as Kenya's mother and Donald Faison as her brother). At least it makes a difference at first before Kenya meets Landscape Architect, Brian (a very Caucasian and hip Simon Baker). Then all the social rules, class and ethnic prejudices go out the window because there is a real physical attraction between the two that neither can deny.
There is not much new going on here except for the perfect pairing of Baker and Lathan: both are charismatic and sexy which makes their attraction believable...i.e... rooted in truth. Plus as a Los Angeleno, it is great to see the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles captured on camera in all its ethnic pride and beauty.
"Something New" isn't really....but it's definitely not a waste of two hours...check it out.