Brown Sugar (2002)
Sidney and Dre can attribute their lifelong friendship and the launch of their careers to one single childhood instant... witnessing the birth of hip-hop on a New York street corner. Now some 15 years later, she is a revered music critic at a national magazine and he is a successful, though unfulfilled, hip-hop record company executive. Both come to realize that their true life passions will only be fulfilled by remembering what they learned that day on the corner.
Watch Trailer
Free Trial Channels
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
terrible... so disappointed.
An absolute waste of money
Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Andre 'Dre' Ellis (Taye Diggs) is tired of selling out as A&R in a hip hop label. His lifelong friend Sidney Shaw (Sanaa Lathan) is more concerned about her career as editor-in-chief of a hip hop magazine. Their platonic relationship is thrown for a loop when he tells her that he's marrying Reese Ellis (Nicole Ari Parker). He tells her that men are looking for Brown Sugar, somebody sweet enough to marry and freaky enough for the bed. She's jealous of Reese and Reese notices. Dre and Reese get married but Reese is not that happy when he quits his job to start his own label. Kelby Dawson (Boris Kodjoe) surprises everybody by proposing to Sid. Sid and Dre discover Reese cheating on him.This is a good functional romance. Sanaa and Taye Diggs are nice actors for the roles. I like Nicole Ari Parker in her role. The hip hop industry insider stuff has to be taken with a grain of salt even though there are a couple of musician actors. It follows a certain formula and that's perfectly fine. I really like the actors and that keeps my interest.
I put this movie in the same category as The Wood. Here it's all about an era, were the music meant everything from the DJ to the MC. In the movie you have a brother who loves the music, and a woman who can't understand the brother's love for it and how it seems to drive him. On the flip side you have another woman that understands the brother, and supports the brother (take note ladies SUPPORT we need it). What makes this a good movie, or love story is it could really happen. Imagine finding a supportive soulmate who is down for you, and you could relate to on many levels. However, often times that is never who you end up with for one reason or another. If your feeling this holla back.
I believe Brown Sugar is a movie that should and possibly will always be remembered. I like the movie since it displays the true meaning of hip-hop. Not only that but it shows how true friends may end up getting together. My comment may not sound clear since my mind is all jungled up. Sanaa Lathan and Taye Diggs played excellent roles in the movie along with Queen Latifah, Nicole Ari Parker, Boris Kodjoe, and Mos Def. Another good thing about the movie promotes the Bronx!! Holla!!!!!! That's for the haters who stay hatin' on the BX!
You know how some songs sound better when you discover them yourself? That's kind of how this film is... at first glance, the marketing made it look like just another hip-hop romantic comedy - but it's subtler, deeper, sweeter, and more realistic than just about any other love story set in the black community - it really is the "When Harry Met Sally" of hip-hop. Right from the get-go the film startles and confounds, by opening with real life interviews with some of hip hops's biggest names and old school heroes, from De La Soul to Method Man, as it sets up the film's neat parallel lines of Dre's (Taye Diggs) and Sidney's (Sanaa Lathan) love of hip hop run parallel with their love of each other. Of course, there are a few concessions made to the conventions of romantic comedy, but at every turn the film surprises - except one: Mos Def, one of the most naturally gifted actors around, gives yet another nuanced performance as a would-be rapper with his eye on the film's other supporting actor, the indomitable Queen Latifah, here playing a nicely restrained spin on the typical "sassy best friend" which... ugh, just the thought of "Maid in Manhattan" makes me shudder. Bottom line? See this beautifully made movie and tell your friends about it - as I said up front, songs are so much better when you discover them yourself.