SOMETHING NEW — ** 1/2 — Sanaa Lathan, Simon Baker, Blair Underwood; rated PG-13 (vulgarity, sex, profanity).
"Something New" is nothing new. It's just the latest spin on cliched romantic comedies about struggles faced by racially mixed couples.
The movie lacks the edginess of the other, better films, such as "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," which is considered the trailblazer in this particular sub-genre. On the other hand, "Something New" is considerably better than the "Guess Who" remake that starred Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac.
What "Something New" really has going for it is an attractive, appealing cast, led by Sanaa Lathan ("Alien vs. Predator"), who deserves more big-screen work after this.
She stars as Kenya McQueen, a successful, hard-working financial attorney who's looking for her IBM (Ideal Black Man). Instead, she meets Brian Kelly (Simon Baker), a landscape architect who's a whiter shade of pale.
Kenya tells Brian up-front that she's only interested in dating black men. But the rugged, earthy Brian eventually wins her heart. It helps that he isn't believing any of Kenya's protestations and that he seems charmed by her many neuroses.
As expected, the course of true love doesn't run smoothly, and the two would-be lovers face scrutiny from Kenya's friends and family, and even begin having their own doubts about the relationship.
Surprisingly, the film runs out of steam about an hour in, so first-time director Sanaa Hamri and screenwriter Kriss Turner (TV's "Everybody Hates Chris") are forced to introduce a series of dramatic conflicts just to make things interesting. The clunkiest of these contrivances is the introduction of a black rival for Kenya's affections, played by Blair Underwood.
But Lathan and Baker ("The Ring Two") work well as a big-screen couple, and both are fresh faces — especially Lathan, who makes her character very likable, despite some of the dumb things she's required to do.
The film also has a terrific supporting cast, which includes Donald Faison (from TV's "Scrubs") as Kenya's brother, and veterans Alfre Woodard and Earl Billings as her uppercrust parents.
"Something New" is rated PG-13 for crude sexual references and innuendo, as well as some other sexual humor, a pair of brief sex scenes (fairly discreet by today's standards), and scattered use of profanity. Running time: 99 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com