The Brothers seemed like a movie with potential, following in the foot steps of past relationship orientated films like Waiting to Exhale and Love Jones. However, this film stepped up to the plate and struck out big time.
Strike One: Unmotivated characters. The only character with a quarter of dimension was the character played by Morris Chestnut. The rest of the cast were a bunch of caricatures of successful men in the black community. What happen to the blue collar, hardworking black man who successfully raises his kids and sees that his children progress further in life than himself? Cynically enough, I believe that these caricatures I refer to were only created to aid in making up the two hours needed to tell such a story. The hit could've came from the writer/director's acknowledgment of great storytelling, realizing that the audience should be able to empathize with the characters, not sympathize. Poor character development and a fear of, how should I say it, "stereotyping the black community" led to the paper thin characters in this film.
Strike Two: Excuse me, but the antagonist wasn't strong enough. How can you have a great story without an overwhelmingly powerful antagonist. For example, Morris Chestnut's character is held down by his cynicism towards the whole idea of committing to someone, especially after encountering his parent's unsuccessful relationship first hand. He discovers that his girlfriend was dating his father and must decide on whether he should overlook such a thing or not. I didn't see how their love was tested. It would've been better if she had actually slept with the father and despite all that, Morris Chestnut takes a chance with her regardless. No adversity and no antagonist equals lame story.
Strike Three: Ha, ha, ha, that wasn't funny. The script was trying too hard to be funny. True comedy comes from an innocent attempt in not trying to be funny. All the jokes seemed staged and unreal, just like the monologues, or should I say dialogue.
It's unfortunate that African-American's must rely on such films to continue working in Hollywood. I'm sorry to say but these African-American films aren't getting the job done. We need more "Training Days" (would've been nice if was written by an African-American) to show the complex nature of Black people, instead of these shallow films about highly successful, almost flawless African-Americans who biggest problem is getting his wife to give him oral sex. Out of a possible 10 I'm being nice and give this film a 4.
Strike One: Unmotivated characters. The only character with a quarter of dimension was the character played by Morris Chestnut. The rest of the cast were a bunch of caricatures of successful men in the black community. What happen to the blue collar, hardworking black man who successfully raises his kids and sees that his children progress further in life than himself? Cynically enough, I believe that these caricatures I refer to were only created to aid in making up the two hours needed to tell such a story. The hit could've came from the writer/director's acknowledgment of great storytelling, realizing that the audience should be able to empathize with the characters, not sympathize. Poor character development and a fear of, how should I say it, "stereotyping the black community" led to the paper thin characters in this film.
Strike Two: Excuse me, but the antagonist wasn't strong enough. How can you have a great story without an overwhelmingly powerful antagonist. For example, Morris Chestnut's character is held down by his cynicism towards the whole idea of committing to someone, especially after encountering his parent's unsuccessful relationship first hand. He discovers that his girlfriend was dating his father and must decide on whether he should overlook such a thing or not. I didn't see how their love was tested. It would've been better if she had actually slept with the father and despite all that, Morris Chestnut takes a chance with her regardless. No adversity and no antagonist equals lame story.
Strike Three: Ha, ha, ha, that wasn't funny. The script was trying too hard to be funny. True comedy comes from an innocent attempt in not trying to be funny. All the jokes seemed staged and unreal, just like the monologues, or should I say dialogue.
It's unfortunate that African-American's must rely on such films to continue working in Hollywood. I'm sorry to say but these African-American films aren't getting the job done. We need more "Training Days" (would've been nice if was written by an African-American) to show the complex nature of Black people, instead of these shallow films about highly successful, almost flawless African-Americans who biggest problem is getting his wife to give him oral sex. Out of a possible 10 I'm being nice and give this film a 4.