FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
Sanaa Lathan and Taye Diggs find out if they can be more than just friends in "Brown Sugar."
"When did you fall in love with hip-hop?" is the question posed to recording stars Kool G. Rap, Pete Rock, Talib Kweli and Common, as "Brown Sugar" opens with a montage of subway trains, graffiti art and exultant praise of old-school icons like Spoonie Gee, Afrika Bambaataa and Run-DMC. For those who lived through hip-hop's golden age, the sight of limber-limbed kids in Kangols and Cazals breakdancing to Planet Patrol's "Play At Your Own Risk" makes for an oddly transcendent moment. ‘Brown Sugar’ sings trite tune
By Shawn "Speedy" Lopes
slopes@starbulletin.comEven as the film ushers us into the present, it never abandons its reverence for hip-hop -- not the kind you hear on commercial radio or see on MTV, but the genuine head-bobbing, feel-it-in-your-bones kind of hip-hop that makes as compelling a backdrop to a New York City love story as director Rick Famuyiwa's skyline views of the Big Apple at night.
This is why it is painful for those who love this music to see this film leave many of its promises unfulfilled. For all its talk about passion for hip-hop, "Brown Sugar" is the cinematic equivalent of a watered-down, made-for-radio love rap.
It centers on Dre (Taye Diggs), a high-level record executive, and Sidney (Sanaa Lathan), a successful music journalist who, despite a shared passion for music, an intimate 17-year friendship and their obvious attraction for one another, have never hooked up. Scriptwriter Mike Elliot sacrifices character development for contrived "chance" occurrences and situations that tie the story together in a tidy but trite package. Even in an expansive metropolis like New York City, the characters seem to conveniently encounter each other at the gym, in nightclubs or on the street with incredible frequency.
The film's supporting characters are never given a chance to endear themselves to the audience, which is unfortunate because all actors turn in laudable performances. Aspiring rapper-slash-cabbie Chris, played with easy charm by real-life rapper Mos Def, is useful only in reinforcing Dre's commitment to hip-hop, while it's obvious that Sidney's cousin Francine (Queen Latifah) exists solely to remind Sidney of her true feelings for Dre. Even more woefully underdeveloped are Dre and Sidney's romantic partners who, despite their involvement in a pair of life-altering marriage proposals, serve only to highlight the romantic tension between Dre and Sidney.
If there is some magical quality to Dre's personality that gets Chris to compromise his ideals and sign with someone who once made his reputation on soulless corporate rap, we never see it. We're also expected to believe that in post-9/11 New York City, all that's required to get a song on a hugely popular radio station is a daily appearance at the doorstep of the program director's office (I've seen better security at mini-marts) and that one call to the station is enough to get you on the air with DJ Angie Martinez, where you are allowed to tie up the airwaves for several minutes to profess your love for her on-air guest.
And the jokes in "Brown Sugar" are lukewarm at best. Ren and Ten, the "Hip-Hop Dalmatians," are absurd caricatures in a misguided movie that fumbles its best shot at a good laugh into the irretrievable depths of a WB sitcom.
The one strong point to "Brown Sugar" is its soundtrack. With a positively bomb musical backdrop by The Roots, Blackalicious, M.O.P., Jill Scott and Blackstar, moviegoers with a genuine love for hip-hop would do well to skip the movie and get the CD instead.
Playing at Consolidated Kapolei, Koko Marina, Ko'olau, Mililani, Pearlridge and Ward; Signature Dole Cannery and Pearl Highlands; Wallace Enchanted Lake "Brown Sugar"
Rated PG-13
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