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MOVIES / ON DVD / SOMETHING NEW
Something New

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Something New (2006)

61%
44%
70%
N/A
N/A
N/A
61 %
Reviews Counted: 104 Fresh: 63  Rotten:41 Average Rating: 6/10
 
Consensus: Something New tackles serious questions about race and interracial relationships with genuine appeal and an alluring romance that develops as naturally as the plot.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: PG

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Theatrical Release: 24-11-2006

Synopsis: Kenya (Sanaa Lathan) is a beautiful, successful lawyer with loving parents and a close-knit group of supportive friends--but, predictably, no love life to speak of. Out for drinks on Valentine's Day, she and her girlfriends lament the difficulty of finding the "ideal black man"... Kenya (Sanaa Lathan) is a beautiful, successful lawyer with loving parents and a close-knit group of supportive friends--but, predictably, no love life to speak of. Out for drinks on Valentine's Day, she and her girlfriends lament the difficulty of finding the "ideal black man" (successful, educated, and attractive), and the point is driven home when a coworker sets Kenya up on a blind date with a successful, educated, and attractive landscape architect named Brian (Simon Baker)--who turns out to be, to her surprise and dismay, white. While Kenya at first tries to deny their obvious attraction, the two soon start a relationship; and though they have undeniable chemistry, cultures clash. The plot of SOMETHING NEW is not, in fact, actually new, combining many of the usual truisms of romantic comedies and interracial dramas. In fact, with his too-good-to-be-true personality (sensitive yet strong, working with his hands yet educated, determined yet patient), Brian is reminiscent of Sidney Poitier's John in GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER, a man so perfect that no critic could find anything to object to beyond his race. But top-to-bottom excellent performances from an extremely talented cast make the characters three-dimensional and save the movie from cliché. Lathan's radiant, skillful performance manages to display all of Kenya's many neuroses and flaws, even her occasional rudeness, without ever allowing her to become unlikable. The always excellent Earl Billings and Alfre Woodard bring real warmth and depth to the roles of Kenya's parents, and Donald Faison displays perfect comic timing as her playboy brother. Blair Underwood--as Brian's main competition--miraculously manages to make his attractive, suave character somewhat unappealing. The actors, working with Sanaa Hamri's sure-handed and inventive direction (in her feature film debut, no less), give the movie a lively spark and likeability that elevate it above its genre conventions. [More]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Sanaa Lathan, Simon Baker, Mike Epps, Blair Underwood, Golden Brooks

Director: Sanaa Hamri

DVD Info

Release:

Apr 5, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Snap Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33
  • Single Sided - Dual Layer

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
  • Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image
1/5

Something New isn’t just silly, it's an embarrassment to people who are genuinely trying to level the racial playing field in America today.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/30/06
Kat Brown
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2/5

Generally the story swings wildly from preachy to just plain silly. It is truly a story of missed opportunities.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/28/06
Stella Papamichael
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2/5

There's zero chemistry between the leads; for all their passionate declarations of love, you never believe they've even spoken to each other before the cameras start turning over.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/25/06
Andrew Pulver
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2/5

Something hackneyed, trite and boring, you mean.

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
11/24/06
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
Ratings Image
N/A

By and large this is a hollow, laugh-free zone paying lip service to the issue in trite, predictable fashion.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/23/06
Anna Smith
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2.5/4

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
Ratings Image
4/4

Mixing mirth with more sophisticated moments, this delightful romantic romp ultimately triumphs primarily because of the easy-going screen chemistry generated by Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/27/07
Kam Williams
Bean Soup Times
Ratings Image
N/A

A beguilingly heartfelt, low-key farce.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/01/07
David Noh
Film Journal International
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
02/03/07
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve
Ratings Image
1.5/4

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
02/03/07
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
Ratings Image
2/5

Anyone who finds something new in Something New is obviously looking a whole lot closer than the movie deserves.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/25/06
Scott Weinberg
DVD Clinic
Ratings Image
N/A

This 'new romantic comedy' fails on all three counts:It’s not all that funny, it’s not very romantic, and it’s certainly nothing new.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/12/06
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image
2.5/4

A diamond in the rough.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/22/06
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
Ratings Image
3.5/4

Quietly, almost subliminally, Something New is more profound than the overwrought “relevance” of Oscar nominee Crash.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/17/06
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
Ratings Image
2.5/4

I suspect than a lot of audiences will find the serious nature of the subplot to be distracting.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/17/06
Sean McBride
Sean the Movie Guy
Ratings Image
C+

It's just too bad that this half-realized concept is tethered to an utterly unconvincing, warmed-over interracial romance rooted more in Harlequin fantasy than social realism.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/16/06
Nathan Rabin
Onion AV Club
Ratings Image
3/5

Something New, in its endearingly daft third act, manages the neat feat of feeling sweetly inevitable rather than boilerplate predictable.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/11/06
Kimberly Jones
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image
N/A

An affecting story that dares to dig deeper than the usual romantic comedy fluff.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/10/06
John Wirt
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)
Ratings Image
2.5/4

... a nice mix of opposites-attract romanticism with the cultural divide drama.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/08/06
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly
Ratings Image
3.5/5

Sometimes succeeds as genuinely new, while at other times it offers a fresh spin on its conventions. And it's always pretty agreeable.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/08/06
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
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