The Brothers

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 <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005A8ML/reelmoviecriticc">Soundtrack CD...$13.99...limited time only</A>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> The Brothers ***1/2 ( R )</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By George O. Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> Love don't love me!</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Jackson: Morris Chestnut</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Derrick: D.L.Hughley</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Terry: Shemar Moore</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Brian: Bill Bellamy</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Fred: Clifton Powell         </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Cherie: Tatyana Ali         </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Shelia: Tamala Jones</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Jessie:  Julie Benz      </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Louise : Jenifer Lewis      </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Mary: Marla Gibbs</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Denise: Gabrielle Union</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> BeBe: Susan Dalian     </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Writer/Director: Gary Hardwick</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="304" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> 30 Second Bottom Line: Four best friends, who are pushing 30 years old, struggle in their own unique ways to have an <I>appropriate</I> female relationship. </div> <bR> <div> Story Line: Jackson, Derrick, Terry and Brian (Morris Chestnut, D.L. Hughley, Shemar Moore and Bill Bellamy) are all in their late 20's and each has taken a different approach to their romantic relationships with women. </div> <bR> <div> Jackson is a physician who has problems with the "C" word…commitment. He's a sincere guy, but after becoming intimate with a woman, he is then afraid of her. What might she want from him?</div> <bR> <div> Derrick is married to Shelia (Tamala Jones) who will not perform oral sex and his head tells him that is just what he needs (pun intended). He becomes so upset about it that he threatens to move his mother, Mary (Marla Gibbs), from a nursing home to their house without asking his wife. </div> <bR> <div> Terry is the confirmed bachelor, who, after meeting BeBe (Susan Dalian), shocks the fellas by becoming engaged. That's OK with everyone but Brian, a real dog with women, who tells Terry he'll be sorry.</div> <bR> <div> Brian has given up on black women and starts dating a white woman, a karate instructor named Jessie (Julie Benz). If there is a brother in this group who is a jerk (black, white or otherwise), that many women have encountered in the real world, it's Brian. He's an attorney who is stuck on himself, and if he was ever found murdered, there might be so many suspects that there would be too many leads to follow up on.</div> <bR> <div> Jackson meets Denise (Gabrielle Union), a free lance photographer, and they immediately hit it off, in more ways than one. Things get complicated for Jackson when his father, Fred (Clifton Powell), starts dating his mother, Louise (Jenifer Lewis), after they've gone through a painful divorce. He later learns that Denise had a relationship with his father some years back. Just when Denise is ready to tell Jackson about it, he says something that causes her to change her mind.</div> <bR> <div> Tell Me More About It: <I>The Brothers</I> has the style of <I><B>The Best Man,</B></I> but is more entertaining because it's really about the thoughts, feelings and experiences of each of the individuals rather than revolving around one or two main characters. It's that perspective that makes this an entertaining and fun film to watch.</div> <bR> <div> Women share their lives with their friends on a "what's happening level," while men discuss women as if they are still in high school comparing notes about who puts out and who does not. This film has been described as a man's version of <I>Waiting to Exhale</I>. I did not find that to be the case at all, other than the race of the characters. The essence of the film is more comparable to <B>Saving Silverman,</B> <I><B>Whipped</B></I><B> </B>or the upcoming <I><B>Tomcats</B></I><B>.</B> Fortunately, this is a much better film.  </div> <bR> <div>  All four films address male bonding and how men view relationships with women. The difference is that <I>The Brothers</I> addresses issues with biting social satire. <I><B>Silverman</B></I><B> </B>and <I><B>Whipped</B></I> have a few laughs here and there, but overall their sole appeal is that of crude humor. Other films that also speak effectively to this point are <I><B>Chuck and Buck</B></I><B> </B>and <I>The Tao of Steve</I>. Don't let the color of the cast in <I>The Brothers</I> cloud the issue of the point I'm making. The bottom line is that there are funny films about people in their 20's and 30's, that can make you laugh while being both entertaining and informative, without the necessity of resorting to crude humor.  </div> <bR> <div> From a satirical perspective, <I>The Brothers</I> addresses many issues; why some black men date white women and why white women look for the same basic truths in a relationship as black women do. How black women see women of any race, other than black, as "white," be they Latino, Asian, whatever. You're not bombarded with "messages," the realizations simply come out in some very funny dialogue. </div> <bR> <div> I did not buy the platonic relationship between Fred and Denise. Fred has been a hound dog for many years and Denise is sexually liberated to the point that the only question there might have been who seduced whom? At times I thought the relationship between Derrick and Shelia was more of a comedy skit with gag lines rather than real. Things are wrapped up all too neatly in the end. That said, there's believable intensity in the situations and you want a happy ending, with problems at least on the way to being resolved.  </div> <bR> <div> In spite of a large cast, I was able to care about what happened to each of them. BeBe is a strong, attractive black woman; you feel for her when her heart is broken and you sympathize when she shows off her <I>marksmanship</I>. Jessie deserves better than Brian.</div> <bR> <div> You are happy for the bride and groom, who finally say, "I do." You are pulling for Denise and Jackson to work it out. And the ever-honest Louise's test of true love demands that a man give his woman his very last bite of food.    </div> <bR> <div> The swaggering style of Tom Cruise in <I><B>Magnolia,</B></I> with his egotistical belief in men's superiority over women when he shouts "Tame the c---," mixed with Cherie's proclamation to "Reject the p----," and we find that the film is more about what women think than men…so what else is new? This film could just as well be called <I>The Sisters</I> or <I>The Sisters and the Brothers!!  </I>Maybe the brothers have found a way to exhale after all.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> R (strong sexual contents and language)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="634" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Morris Chestnut: <I><B>The Best Man</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> D.L.Hughley: <I><B>The Original Kings of Comedy</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Shemar Moore: <I>Match Game -TV</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="341"><div> Bill Bellamy: <I><B>Any Given Sunday</B></I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Clifton Powell: <I>Next Friday</I>        </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="341"><div> Tatyana Ali: <I>Kiss the Girls</I>         </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Tamala Jones: <I><B>The Ladies Man</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="341"><div> Julie Benz: <I>As Good as It Gets</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 ><NOBR><div> Jenifer Lewis: <I><B>Cast Away</B></I><B>     </B> </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="341"><div> Marla Gibbs: <I><B>The Visit</B></I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Gabrielle Union: <I><B>Bring it On</B></I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="341"><div> Susan Dalian: <I><B>Disney's the Kid</B></I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Gary Hardwick: <I>Trippin'</I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="341"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="341" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>