You People a rom-com co-written and produced by Jonah Hill in conjunction with co-writer and director Kenya Barris tackles love in a hopeless place-at least on the surface. The story chronicles the relationship of an unlikely pair Ezra (Jonah Hill) and Amira (Lauren London) that fall in love as a result of a rideshare mix up. Ezra and Amira at first glance does not make much sense: he is Jewish, white and wealthy whereas she is Muslim, black and middle class. However, their love of pop culture, musical taste, questionable careers, millennial status and unique parental relationships gives the audience hope for this unlikely pair. One obstacle preventing a blissful union are their families-throughout the film, each encounters uncomfortable occurrences that highlight their polarizing differences.
It begs the question does love conquer all??
Although the film addresses some heavy social commentary like the juxtaposition of Black Americans and Jews in American History it does not feel as intense due to the performance of the all-star cast. In addition to Hill and London, the cast includes Sam Jay, David Duchovny, Nia Long, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Eddie Murphy. One of my fav parts of the movie is Murphy attempting to antagonize Hill with a game of basketball in his hood and backfires, big time. Hill and Murphy are the comedy pair we need more of in the future. We cannot forget to mention Mike Epps, Deon Cole, Andrew Schultz, Careesha and Lala Anthony all add to the star power of this movie.
I have to mention a lot of the feedback on the film is that it tries to hard but I invite people to consider that is what happens in these situations. Typically, in an effort to make people feel normal in what presents as an awkward situation…people over compensate by telling weird stories, giving strange compliments, nervous laughter, over touching and in the case of Ezra sweating a lot, like a lot.
Lastly, the LA aesthetic and culture encompasses the movie in a really cool and fresh way. Absolutely love how they pay homage to Nipsey thought the film-its subtle but present in the wardrobe, music and dialogue. The movie knocks out former number one movies like Glass Onion: Knives Out and Bullet Train in their 2-day debut. Make sure to stream it on Netflix.