Let’s just say it straight, the pedigree involved with this film really did make this one of my more anticipated films of the year, or at least most anticipated comedies and so I was very excited to download it next time I was in port. However with five days or so of bad signal I missed the first wave of reviews, until I checked twitter and found certain pieces (great pieces that you should read) with titles such as “You People; the movie you loved to hate” and David Badiels’s typically excellent piece entitled “You People has a problem with the Jews”. Ok then, so this is the sort of film we’re talking about now.
You People’s biggest problem I think on the macro is a handling of tone and deciding what film it wants to be. Now of course on the micro (not that it isn’t a huge problem) the film has more specific issues regarding representation, film-making and writing. But overall the majority of these issues can be attributed to a handling of tone. This story is one that I have heard pitched many times over when people return after all these years to Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, the classic film and text where an incredibly affluent white family come to terms with their daughters new black partner. Many in the modern world now jump to pitch how interesting an idea in 2023 it would be in reverse. You People takes this pitch one step further by clashing that with the Meet the Parents formula and have us meet not only the judgmental black family of the woman in this chief relationship, but also the Jewish family of the man who are trying too hard to be liberal. Ok, sounds fine so far. Add the writing talents of both Jonah Hill and Kenya Barris, with Barris also directing and Hill also starring, again you’ve got a pretty good pitch. Add into the mix an ensemble beyond our two leads of Hill and Lauren London including Eddie Murphy, David Duchovny, Andrea Savage and Julia Louis Dreyfuss and again you lead to the formula that led to this certainly be one of my more anticipated films of the year. But the final product is as aforementioned at times averagely funny and at other times desperately unfunny and atrocious in its representations of race and race relations, tone-deaf being another blunter way to put it. Barris as a director has no clear handle on pace or how to present her story, and fundamentally does a bad job of presenting the relationships in this movie and much of the comedy, with awkward editing and a plethora of unintentional cringe-inducing moments. The script itself by Hill and Barris does have some funny moments after all there are a lot of funny people involved in the film, but indeed the awful direction and the many dreadful mis-steps the script also makes lead the film to be as understandably hated as it is.
The film’s
biggest issue is a disparity of how it represents each of the families. Whereas
much of the black family are presented to have their own prejudices and blind
faiths, they are at every turn by the screenplay and the direction (and many of
the white characters) defended in what they say and do, whereas the Jewish
family are presented as just so stupid and just so desperately and stupidly
insulting that one can’t help but see the issues people are having with the
film. I am of the opinion that some of these stupidities are funny and perhaps
if both families were painted with the same broad brush then the film may not
come off as so glaringly problematic, however that is not the film that was
made. I say this last point because again I have to admit that there were
moments in this film that did indeed make me laugh, they were few are between,
but they were there. Time after time too though many of these jokes were
mercilessly repeated over and over and buried into the ground. Performance wise
everybody I think it’s fair to say is doing the best they can with the material,
but standouts aren’t really clear or visible. Hill and London are both charming
romantic leads but both come off as slightly disingenuous in the dramatic
scenes because the contrived dramas are just that, although their chemistry is
there and is solid. Duchovny and Dreyfuss are not at fault and their
performances are good jobs at what they have been asked to do, it is painful
that what they have been asked to do is at times just so awful on many levels. Murphy probably comes off best in this film,
he is funny, he is serious, but again is shafted by a screenplay that just
doesn’t support its cast and in actuality puts them in positions nobody could
justify. The most regrettable aspect is that the humour just is nowhere to be found
to back any of these elements up in any way.
At least a 5/10, but by no means anything more or less. The worst bits take it down the lowest points I could give, but then and again a gag will work or a performance will land and even then one can’t go higher than a 5. However as has been written by far more thoughtful and intelligent people than me, this film fails in its racial commentary and chiefly has no handle on tone in presenting each of its core groups of people. Films should touch sore subjects, comedies especially, but one has to handle these matters with a little quality and tact… and also in a comedy, for lack of a better way to say it – you have got to be bloody funny!
P.S. I have no shame in saying I laughed at this movie, I have no shame in saying that this is by no means the worst film of the year by any stretch of the imagination. Is it incredibly disappointing? Yes. Is it in many ways borderline reprehensible? Yes. Will I ever watch it again? No. Do I want to see more films not written (With Hill) or directed by Kenya Barris starring these people? Any day of the week.
- - Thomas Carruthers
0 Comments