You People, 2023.
Directed by Kenya Barris.
Starring Jonah Hill, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lauren London, David Duchovny, Nia Long, Sam Jay, Molly Gordon, Travis Bennett, Andrea Savage, Rhea Perlman, La La Anthony, Deon Cole, Emily Arlook, Andrew Schulz, Bryan Greenberg, Jordan Firstman, Elliott Gould, Mike Epps, Yung Miami, Khadijah Haqq McCray, Matt Walsh, Hal Linden, Winnie Holzman, Richard Benjamin, Doug Hall, Nelson Franklin, Rob Huebel, Murray Gray, and Pason.
SYNOPSIS:
Follows a new couple and their families, who find themselves examining modern love and family dynamics amidst clashing cultures, societal expectations and generational differences.
In Kenya Barris’ You People, Ezra (Jonah Hill) and Black podcasting partner Mo (Sam Jay) talk about everything from sports to culture and current events. They share similar beliefs despite coming from different backgrounds, suggesting that white and Black people can coexist even if Ezra will never fully understand some of these topics. In one of the few funny scenes here, these race relations are equated to adultery, with Black people as the ones still hurting.
Ezra is also lonely and searching for a romantic connection, and he stumbles into a disastrous first encounter with costume designer Amira (Lauren London), getting into the back of her car and incorrectly assuming that it is his regular Uber driver, which coincidentally does happen to look exactly like her. The scene is a hoot offering the initial promise that Kenya Barris (also writing alongside Jonah Hill, with the latter writing dialogue that not only plays to his strengths as a comedian but at one point feels like dialogue ripped and remixed from one of his other movies) will consistently deliver on putting these characters in amusingly cringe scenarios that play on race relations in the modern world.
Six months later, Ezra and Amira are in a healthy relationship and, just like his friendship with Mo, are not experiencing any barriers from being an interracial couple. Instead, those issues arise when it’s time to meet the parents, in which case, You People spirals into an aggravating comedy with one joke that repeats ad nausea while only changing up LA-based locations.
Eddie Murphy plays Akbar, a Muslim with traditional values who would prefer Amira to stay with her culture regarding the dating pool. Then there’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Ezra’s mom Shelley, proud of her Jewish heritage and pleasantly open to the idea of her son potentially marrying a Black woman but utterly tone deaf when it comes to expressing her well-meaning progressive views (she’s happy that her family will be extended in color, ecstatically claiming that it’s the future.)
If You People had been more willing to explore that new dynamic in the Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner formula, it might have stood a chance instead of descending into repetitive, grating chaos. It’s more concerned with having all these characters make asses of themselves every five minutes – which eventually extends into Ezra and Amira finding themselves at odds in forced writing – rather than dishing out sharp social commentary. There’s a dinner sequence where everything goes to hell in a handbasket, as an argument breaks out regarding who had it worse between the Jews with the Holocaust and Blacks with slavery, but the script doesn’t truly care about any of these conversations or use them to expand the characters.
Yes, this is a comedy, first and foremost, but it also desperately wants to call itself a sharp, modern satire on race relations and how they affect modern interracial relationships. These aspects start charming; Jonah Hill’s comedic delivery continues to be fantastic, and his scenes together with Eddie Murphy (who is fine in the strict, sabotaging parent role even if it disappointingly feels like he doesn’t have much to do) where he turns into a terrified, bumbling buffoon are also fun. However, they wear out their welcome fast once everything devolves into a cartoon without characters that feel real or behave rationally (I don’t even buy that after six months of dating, all of a sudden, Ezra and Amira would have to start questioning their beliefs on interracial marriage just because both sets of parents are a walking nightmare to be around, especially when everyone is together.)
None of this is the worst part, as eventually, You People adopts the usual romantic comedy clichés in an overdramatic fashion that simply does not work given how ridiculous everything has been. Nothing about its conclusion feels sincere or in character, but merely the point when Kenya Barris ran out of ideas to extend this single joke and just decided to end it. At 118 minutes, it’s inexcusable that he thinks his one joke is enough to be mined into that running time, wasting a stacked ensemble.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
