Movie Review: ‘You People’

‘Black-ish’ creator Kenya Barris makes his film directorial debut in this witty, fresh comedy which also stars Nia Long, Lauren London and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill in 'You People.'

Exploring race and culture, love, and family divides is perhaps not what you’d expect from a film that is also trying to be a romantic comedy. Yet ‘You People’, co-written by/starring Jonah Hill and co-written/directed by ‘Black-ish’ creator Kenya Barris, pulls off the trick with just a couple of spinning plates dropped.

At its core, this is the story of Ezra (Hill), working in finance but dreaming of putting more of his energy into the podcast he hosts with Mo (Sam Joy). Unlucky in love despite his pushy Jewish mother Shelley’s (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) attempts to set him up with likely women from synagogue, he’s looking for more out of life.

One day, Ezra gets into Amira’s (Lauren London) car, thinking she’s his rideshare driver (in his defense, the woman looks awfully like Amira and drives a similar car). Despite the shock on both sides, the pair spark some chemistry and, six months later, end up engaged.

Jonah Hill, and Lauren London in 'You People.'

Which is where the culture clash comes in. Amira’s proudly Nation Of Islam parents, Akbar (Eddie Murphy) and Fatima (Nia Long) are far from thrilled that their daughter is marrying a white man, and despite his best efforts to win them over, Ezra keeps putting his foot (and practically the rest of his leg) in his mouth. “Do you just come here for our food and our women?” grumps Akbar at his first meeting with Ezra at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles, which the latter claims is one of his regular haunts.

Amira doesn’t fare much better, Ezra’s parents Shelley and Arnold (David Duchovny) practically falling over themselves to prove how down with Black culture they truly are, despite being possibly the whitest people in Los Angeles.

Ezra and Amira plough on, trying to navigate the tricky waters of mixed-race relationships while their parents singularly fail to follow suite. A dinner party turns chaotic when Louis Farrakhan is brought up. And Akbar’s cherished headwear is accidentally set alight.

David Duchovny, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jonah Hill, Lauren London, Eddie Murphy, and Nia Long 'You People.'

Eventually, after some disastrous rehearsal dinner speeches, emotions boil over and the couple decide that neither of them is quite equipped to handle the pressure that their families are putting on them. Which is, of course, not quite the end of the story.

Like Barris’ ‘Black-ish’ before it, ‘You People’ comments and satirizes race relations with a knowing wit. And, blended with the sort of awkward comedy Hill has honed working with the likes of Judd Apatow, it’s a marriage that works without ever forcing the issues. “For Black people in this country, white people are the cheater,” says Mo at one point, “and Black people are the girl who can’t move on.” All sorts of topics are covered and skewered with a knowing eye and neither side is painted as perfect.

Hill makes for an appealing lead, Ezra being more put together than some of the actor’s previous characters, and you can certainly sense the chemistry between the actor and London. She doesn’t quite get as much to do as she might, but the film works to give her a sense of personality outside of being a daughter and a partner.

Jonah Hill (Writer-Producer) as Ezra and Eddie Murphy as Akbar in 'You People.'

Murphy, though some might be frustrated that he’s buttoning down his usually wilder persona, plays the hell out of Akbar, and just because he’s more of a quiet, intense presence, that doesn’t stop him being funny. This is a man who will do anything to make his daughter happy, but he’s also a rounded human being who, later in the film, is reminded that perhaps he shouldn’t judge his potential future son-in-law so harshly.

Louis-Dreyfus, meanwhile, is perfectly cast as Shelley, working whether she’s tying herself in knots to seem cool and accepting in front of Amira or fussing over Ezra. Duchovny gets shorter shrift, reduced to a couple of scenes and a running gag about how much he’s obsessed with Xzibit. But it’s worth remembering how funny he can be when he’s allowed to be.

Jonah Hill and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in 'You People.'

Long, meanwhile, is also not used as fully as she might, though she does get a few moments to shine away from Murphy and the rest.

Around this core cast is built an impressively stacked supporting group, some drawn from the ‘Black-ish’ ensemble (Anthony Anderson cameos in a funny barbershop scene, while Deon Cole and Nelson Franklin are among those popping up). And then there are the one or two-line wonders, such as Elliot Gould and Rhea Perlman––the latter playing Ezra’s opinionated grandmother––who always add value.

Yet ‘You People’ can’t quite escape the TV background of its co-creator, feeling static and basic in its visual style. Though it makes use of some beautiful Los Angeles settings, mostly the scenes are flat and focused more on the funny people delivering dialogue than anything else. Which is fine given the quality of the written material and the performances but doesn’t help the feeling that you’re watching a sitcom or a collection of sketches. The fizzy transitions between certain scenes likewise make this feel more like ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ and less like a big screen experience (which it was for a week in Netflix’s current release model).

Sam Jay, Director-Writer-Producer Kenya Barris and Jonah Hill on the set of 'You People.'

That doesn’t, however, affect the entertainment value much. Largely the pleasure here is seeing the talented likes of Murphy, Hill and Louis-Dreyfus making Barris and Hill’s script sing.

As a comic mix of ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ and ‘Meet The Parents’, ‘You People’ proves to be a fresh, funny and one of the better comedies to happen along in recent years. As a rom com, it has just enough of the romance, but the comedy side is certainly better served.

‘You People’ receives 7.5 out of 10 stars.