You People

Director: Kenya Barris
Starring: Jonah Hill, Lauren London, David Duchovny, Nia Long, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Eddie Murphy, Sam Jay, Travis Bennett, Molly Gordon, Deon Cole, Andrea Savage, Elliot Gould, Rhea Perlman, Mike Epps, Bryan Greenberg, Matt Walsh
Running Time: 118 min.
Rating: R

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★) 

Say this for Kenya Barris' Netflix culture clash rom com, You People: It's funnier than not and many of the jokes land. There's also an inspired premise at its center that positions the film as a more unruly, pessimistic Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. Because it's efficiently made and you grasp the intent, it really comes down to your willingness to be bludgeoned with different variations on a similar joke for the sake of enduring an occasionally awkward sit. Barris (who created TV's Blackish) and co-writer and star Jonah Hill would probably tell you that's the point, and while it scores for not holding back and being refreshingly un-PC, this was never going to be the smoothest ride given its material.

Anyone in need of a harsh reminder that marrying someone means marrying their family, just imagine spending two hours with the wacky, ignorant in-laws here. But considering the lengths the script goes in depicting their self-righteous prejudices, the ending amounts to the proverbial wave of a magic wand. And therein lies the film's conundrum of attempting to reconcile its humor with more serious social commentary. There's this feeling it doesn't quite get there, even if its talented cast does admirable work in balancing the tone. We're at least reminded how good Hill is, creating a relatably insecure character with noble intentions who contends with a bunch of nonsense that brings him to his breaking point. Unfortunately, it's possible viewers might reach theirs first. 

When thirty-five-year-old broker and cultural podcaster Ezra Cohen (Hill) meets fashion designer Amira Mohammed (Lauren London) after mistaking her for his Uber driver, they go out to lunch and embark on a relationship, sharing a mutual attraction despite dissimilar backgrounds. Ezra's family is Jewish, with parents Shelley (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Arnold (David Duchovny) outwardly enamored by the fact their son's dating a Black woman, a point they embarrassingly hammer home to display how open and tolerant they are. That they do this while holding up lesbian daughter Liza (Molly Gordon) as an example of their progressiveness only magnifies their tunnel vision.

Amira's parents Fatima (Nia Long) and Akbar (Eddie Murphy) are devout Farrahkhan supporting Nation of Islam followers, with him far preferring his Black daughter to date a Muslim. After Ezra and Amira move in together and he contemplates proposing, a joint family dinner goes spectacularly wrong, leading to increased tensions when the engagement is announced. With Akbar publicly humiliating Ezra at every turn, Shelley cluelessly and disrespectfully parades Amira around town for diversity cred, oblivious to how uncomfortable it's making her future daughter-in-law. As the wedding approaches and the tension of their parents' behavior weighs on Amira and Ezra, both start wondering if what they have together is strong enough to withstand their feuding families.

Most of the best moments come from Hill's flustered, deadpan reactions to the constant ribbing and humiliating abuse his character receives from Murphy's Akbar. And while the latter is too humorless a character to even mildly empathize with, there's still a lot of mileage in seeing two talents like Hill and Murphy bounce off each other for the first time. Similarly, there's no telling how much worse this could have been without actors the caliber of Murphy and Louis-Dreyfus, who put their own unique spins on what could have easily been walking stereotypes. Lauren London is likable and engaging as Amira while an opening credit montage featuring Ezra's Black culture podcast with friend Mo (Sam Jay) is an early highlight.  

With the exception of an early gag involving Duchovny's Xzibit obsessed Arnold doing his best John Legend, he and Nina Long are curiously sidelined, their characters lacking personal agency, merely taken along for the ride with their respective spouses. Well directed by Barris with solid performances all-around, it has a repetitive quality that starts to wear thin in the second half. Much of that can be attributed to Shelley and Akbar, whose antics are rooted in the same kind of misunderstandings and everyday prejudices that drive issue oriented sitcoms. But then it keeps going, with characters less resembling real people than lightning rods for controversy. And once the film starts tackling racism and anti-semitism head-on, it feels tonally off, especially when Barris has to take this in for the landing. 

Regardless of how much rumored work was required getting Hill and London on the same page as a believable couple, they're mostly fine together, as any lack of chemistry isn't the film's biggest problem. They share an easygoing rapport that does seem more platonic than romantic, but it's really the chaos surrounding them that wears thin after a while. Following a surprisingly strong start, the concept just seems to run out of gas before reaching an easy conclusion. In aiming to function as a fun, socially relevant time capsule, You People marginally succeeds, but with the pieces of a better movie strewn and scattered about.