Something New

Director: Sanaa Hamri
(2006)

Charmingly eye-opening film handcrafted with care by a female writer, director, editor, and producer. Kenya, a successful black businesswoman, has been unlucky in love for years and resolves to be more open in her choices… except when it comes to her fierce opposition to dating white men. Set up on a blind date with gorgeous landscape architect and token white guy Simon Baker, she shuns the possibility but hires him to revamp her tangle of a backyard until, thanks to his charm and ability to look amazing in a t-shirt and jeans, finds herself being strangely pulled into an interracial relationship. The real, razor-sharp dialogue and situations filled with questions of racial prejudices, gender double standards, parental pressure, and equality in relationships make it easy for the viewer to relate and the leads, especially Sanaa Lathan as Kenya, are magnificent. Yes, it is a cute romantic fare for a good movie date but also a worthwhile film about love that opens your eyes to something new indeed.