You People

You People is a romantic comedy about two people from different cultural backgrounds who fall in love but the clash of their families might be too much to handle. Starring Jonah Hill, Lauren London, Eddie Murphy and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The plot was another Guess Who's Coming to Dinner remake. Even though this type story has been played out many times before, there was an interesting take on this one and I liked the twist at the end. The themes around cultural acceptance, family, standing up for yourself and loving people for what’s inside where important to highlight in this time we are in.

The film was co-written and directed by Kenya Barris so I was expecting something clever like his work in Black-ish or Girls Trip but instead I got awkward, cringe worthy dialogue. Some of the conversations just didn’t make any sense and were so uncomfortable I couldn’t wait for the bit to be over. There have been critics who called out some of the jokes for being antisemitic and I could see that too. There was also fetishism of Black women and microaggressions throughout. I honestly felt like the envelope was unnecessarily pushed and it didn’t feel realistic.

Jonah Hill as Ezra and Lauren London as Amira were an odd pairing. Ezra was greasy and unkempt looking while Amira was put together, always had cute outfits that flattered her larger body type and really cool and versatile hairstyles. I would sit there wondering if they got along on set. They didn’t have the physical chemistry that was needed to make this couple seem believable. They also lacked the strong character development for an audience to truly connect to them as love interests.  Eddie Murphy and Nia Long, who played Amira's parents, weren’t that funny nor believable as Nation of Islam Muslims. Ezra’s sister, Liza, didn't get the respect deserved nor the character development needed to make her more than just the gay pun. It seemed lazy that they didn’t fully build out her character to appreciate this important addition to the cast. However, they did make more of an effort with Sam Jay's character Mo. I liked that Ezra had a masculine presenting, lesbian, Black best friend who was confident, opinionated and a driven businesswoman. 

In the end, even with a talented and diverse cast, the ball was dropped on the script. The attempt at exploring the complexities of race relations in a comedic way was lost  in all the outrageous and at times, slapstick, moments.