Brothers, The (2001/I)

reviewed by
Rose 'Bams' Cooper


'3BlackChicks Review...'

THE BROTHERS (2001) Rated R; running time 106 minutes Genre: Romantic Comedy/Drama Seen at: Jack Lokes' Celebration Cinema (Lansing, Michigan) Official site: http://www.sony.com/thebrothers/ IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0250274 Written by: Gary Hardwick Directed by: Gary Hardwick Cast: Morris Chestnut, D.L. Hughley, Bill Bellamy, Shemar Moore, Gabrielle Union, Jenifer Lewis, Tamala Jones, Susan Dalian, Tatyana Ali, Julie Benz, Clifton Powell, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Marla Gibbs, Angela Brooks

Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2001 Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamsthebrothers.html

On 3BC's "Viewer Voices" webboard, Chris Utley mentions that in numerous other reviews of THE BROTHERS, some [begin code word] mainstream [end code word] critics are complaining that it's "just another flick in the same vein as THE BEST MAN and THE WOOD and the films in this genre of young Black professionals seeking romance, etc."

Yeah; lord knows we need to get back to the days when the only Black man in a movie, played the ObThug. What's that now: FIVE "Professional Black Man/Woman Seeks Fulfillment And The American Dream - Just Like Their White Counterparts" movies to UMPTEEN "Hoodrat/Thug/Drug Dealer/SkantchHoe/Pimp/Ig'nant Shuffling Sambo..." flicks?

[rolls eyes]

The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**): THE BROTHERS literally starts with a bang, as Dr. Jackson Smith (Morris Chestnut) recounts the nightmares he has of a mysterious woman in bridal attire coming after him with a gun, to his therapist (Vanessa Bell Calloway).

And speaking of brides, Terry Wright (Shemar Moore), one of Jack's running buddies (a group of four professional Black men who call themselves "The Brothers") announces that he's about to jump the broom with his girlfriend of two months, BeBe Fales (Susan Dalian). The Brothers are underwhelmed by this news, especially lawyer Brian Palmer (Bill Bellamy), who's never met a Black woman without Issues [listen closely, and you can almost hear the Black Sista 3-Snaps-Up from Angela Brooks as the spurned Judge], and thus looks to a White woman (Julie Benz) to fulfill his needs. And speaking of not having one's needs fulfilled, fellow Brother Derrick West (D.L. Hughley) is also not quite enthusiastic over Terry's news; Derrick speaks from experience, as his wife Sheila (Tamala Jones) refuses to, as the youngsters say, "give Derrick brain", or to entertain thoughts of letting D's mother (Marla Gibbs) live with them.

Jack also has Intimacy Issues, stemming from the way his father (Clifton Powell) abandoned his feisty mother (the wonderful Jenifer Lewis), leaving them and his wacky sister Cherie (Tatyana Ali) to fend for themselves. But Jack's world is about to be turned upside down, as he meets and falls for freelance photographer Denice Johnson (Gabrielle Union); Denice *seems* normal enough at first glance, but like most of the women in The Brothers' lives, she has a skeleton in her closet, too.

The Upshot: Even with my eyes rolling at my fellow critics, it pains me to say that THE BROTHERS just didn't Do It for me; not because of some misguided notion that the Black Movie Role scale has been balanced now that it's finally hitting the positive end more often - sorry Mr. Charlie, we're a *lonnnnnng* way away from things being Even, Steven - but because it paled in comparison to the much better THE BEST MAN, and indeed, was too derivative of that movie. One could easily switch the actors in both movies, and except for the more balanced strength of TBM's cast (sorry Shemar Moore and Bill Bellamy; you're no Morris Chestnut/Taye Diggs and Terrence Dashon Howard), come away with nearly the same concept, though not nearly the same strong movie.

Not to say that there weren't some good-to-great performances in THE BROTHERS. Morris Chestnut, as always, put in solid work as Jackson (even though his character's main conflict made absolutely no sense to me), and had wonderful chemistry with Gabrielle Union as Denice. D.L. Hughley had me absolutely rolling as the sexually frustrated Derrick West, and put me in mind of, strangely enough, Burgess Meredith in GRUMPY OLD MEN (made more evident by the outtakes shown at the end). And Jenifer Lewis once again ran away with a movie, in a role (the mother) that was probably supposed to suppress her power, but you might as well ask the sun not to shine as to try to tuck Lewis' abilities to Bring It, away.

But Bill Bellamy ought to go back to stand-up comedy, or MTV-hosting, because - as his scenes with his movie mother proved - the man can't act; more's the pity, because his character's playa-hating and "jungle fever" *could* have had much more pivotal impact, given a better actor. Ditto Shemar Moore, who stood there looking as pretty as he wanna be, but added little to the movie itself. In his case, though, I fault the writing and directing more than the actor. Where Bellamy was given *too much* to do with too little talent to support it, Moore simply wasn't given the tools he needed to make Terry much more than a bad plot device.

And the women in THE BROTHERS? Besides the powerhouse that is Ms. Lewis, and Union's good showing, the women came off here pretty badly. Not that I was surprised by that; after all, the Black Males In Female-Driven Black Movies scale is also unbalanced with an overabundance of McMillanesque No Good Black Men. "Touche", I guess.

My biggest gripe? It's not so much that women, as a gender, get blasted in "Brothers" - hey, some of my sisters *deserve* the thrashing - but that putting a penis on a skreech, doesn't improve the skreech. Apparently, Terry McMillan doesn't have the corner on Black gender-bashing. Writer/director Gary Hardwick had the beginnings of a good idea, but let it get away from him, failing to support his idea with a solid storyline, believable backstory, or straightforward character development. What started out as a near-copycat of THE BEST MAN ended up as WAITING TO EXHALE in drag, with an implied Oedipal conflict thrown in for "good" measure.

The Interview: I had the honor of interviewing Morris Chestnut before the special limited showing of THE BROTHERS in which he came to Lansing (yes, I was shocked, too) to introduce the movie to our audience. As I expected, he was quite charming, rivetingly handsome (though slimmer than I expected, especially after seeing him in THE BEST MAN last year), and serious about his craft. We spoke about his breakout role in BOYZ IN THE HOOD and how he's grown as an actor since then; he told me that he looks for roles with depth and meaning, and that his long-term plans are to get involved behind-the-scenes as a producer and director, and to continue to elevate his art. He seemed proud of THE BROTHERS; and though I don't share his enthusiasm with the overall product, Chestnut's solid contribution to it, as with his past performances, warrant his pride.

Bammer's Bottom Line: I struggled with this one - I truly did - but in the end, I had to mark it down a notch from the conditional green that I *wanted* to give THE BROTHERS, because its miscues, lack of direction, and derivative nature, overshadowed the solid performances by Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union, Jenifer Lewis, and the hilarious D.L. Hughley. I *will* have to see it again, though - the ghettofabulous crowd made me miss too much the first time.

THE BROTHERS (rating: flashing yellowlight): But still, I'd take a thousand "Brothers" over one more Black Gangsta flick, *any*day.

Rose "Bams" Cooper
Webchick and Editor,
3BlackChicks Review
Movie Reviews With Flava!
Copyright Rose Cooper, 2001
EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com
http://www.3blackchicks.com/

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