You People – An Edgy Romantic Comedy

Pinning opposites against each other and playing off that contrast for laughs is now new by any means when it comes to comedies. If done right, they could generate important dialogue about certain issues. With Black-ish, Kenya Barris has consistently proven that he could handle those difficult situations and create those conversations through comedy. This time, teaming up with co-writer Jonah Hill who also stars in his feature directorial debut, You People is a romantic comedy where plenty of awkwardness is found in a story about race relations. That topic in particular is also not new by any means but this film approaches with the kind of edge that sets it apart with an all-star cast including Hill, Murphy, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus among countless others. However, its script is truly the highlight, featuring plenty of hilarious moments made better by that aforementioned cast. Running at almost 2 hours long, the film definitely could have been cut down slightly as it does drag in places. Nevertheless, this directorial debut shows some style that did need to be reigned in at times and essentially amounts to a stretched-out sitcom at times.

You People follows a man named Ezra (Hill) who hit it off with a woman named Amira (London), someone who he happened to run into by chance. An affluent aspiring professional podcaster focusing on black and white cultural issues, things changed when met her and having his first serious relationship with a Black woman thus experiencing a lot of what he talked about in real life. Coming from two different worlds beyond the cultural divide made for some an interesting watch and a fun one but they made it work. Though as they became serious, the next step was to bring each of their parents into the equation. They wanted to get married, however, they wanted their blessing. Now this was when the fun truly began as the contrast between Ezra and Amira couldn’t be clearer which presented its own set of issues, be it his Jewish heritage or her Muslim heritage while the black versus white issue made for another awkward undercurrent at least at first.

Trying to mind the gap between each set of parents proved to be a challenge for Ezra and Amira. Ezra’s mother Shelley (Louis-Dreyfus) was a comically tone-deaf caricature of privilege who saw Amira as an object to parade around to supposedly affirm some sort of superiority complex. Amira’s father Akbar (Murphy) was a staunch traditionalist who remained steadfast in his skepticism towards Ezra and his intentions for his daughter. Nevertheless, the stress of managing both these parent relationships and finding a foothold somewhere in the middle-put Ezra and Amira’s relationship to the test. The contrasting perspectives for them and the others in their respective circles was ripe for humor as the film admittedly gets crass at times in doing so. Despite this, watching either interact in the other’s world essentially was fun to watch while also dramatic at times. The story is on the predictable side, again taking its time getting to the ending that most will see coming, but it was still absolutely hilarious more often than not.

When it comes to You People, the case definitely came to play as all looked to be having a blast as their chemistry was also on point. Ultimately, the best part of the film was its script with sharp and hilarious dialog, giving the talented cast something, they could really work with. Hill was great as Ezra, principled while balancing moments of being over his head. He stayed in that deep end because he cared about Amira. Not a new character by any means, he was still compelling to watch. The same could be said about London whose inner conflict as Amira went perhaps a little deeper, allowing her to show more range while straddling the line the character has to straddle. While Murphy’s Akbar made a perfect foil for Ezra, Louis-Dreyfus’ Shelley was a scene-stealer solely for her commitment to the dialog.

At the end of the day, You People is a hilarious surprise that may not bring anything new to the table but still delivers enough of a punch to give it some staying power.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.