Brown Sugar (2002)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Rick Famuyiwa

Writers (WGA):

Michael Elliot (story)
Michael Elliot (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 October 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Comedy | Drama | Music

Tagline:

The Rhythm The Love The Beat ...and you don't stop

Plot:

Friends since childhood, a magazine editor (Lathan) and a hip-hop record exec (Diggs) stumble into romantic territory.

Plot Keywords:

Hip Hop | Writer | Record Company | Basketball | Pool Game

Awards:

1 win & 16 nominations

Cast

Taye Diggs	...	Andre Romulus 'Dre' Ellis
Sanaa Lathan	...	Sidney 'Syd' Shaw
Mos Def	...	Chris 'Cav' Anton Vichon
Nicole Ari Parker	...	Reese Marie Wiggam Ellis
Boris Kodjoe	...	Kelby Dawson
Queen Latifah	...	Francine
Wendell Pierce	...	Simon
Erik Weiner	...	Ren
Reggi Wyns	...	Ten
Melissa Martinez	...	Meghan
Aaliyyah Hill	...	Young Sidney
Marc John Jefferies	...	Young Dre
Venida Evans	...	Older Woman
Breece Wilson	...	Woman
Brette Taylor	...	Woman 2

Also Known As:

I Used to Love Her (USA) (working title)
Seven Days

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Canada:PG | Denmark:A | Germany:6 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39139)

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Evergreen Productions

Goofs:

Factual errors: The soundtrack lists "Wedding March" by Lohengrin, but it was written by Richard Wagner for the opera "Lohengrin".

Quotes:

Chris: I'm not the Humphrey Bogart in this. I'm the Peter Lorre. I'm the sidekick character. You the Humphrey Bogart. You had your opening. You know what I'm saying? She wanted you to stop her from marrying the old dude, but you let it ride, you know? Same thing Bogey did, man. You're the same dude.
Dre: Man, don't be dissin' Humphrey Bogart, man.
Chris: Why not?
Dre: 'Cause he's Humphrey Bogart. He's the man. Yo, he was fightin' a war. That's what they did back then.
Chris: You know what he needed to do back then? He needed to stop fine-ass Ingrid Bergman from gettin' on the plane with the corny dude. And then, he gonna walk off in the fog with some other dude. Come on, man. With another dude, in the fog? Come on. Two grown men walk off in a fog, you don't know where they goin'? Think about it, man.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References "Yo! MTV Raps" (1988)

Soundtrack:

Self Love

Interesting Hip Hop Commentary, Predictable Love Story.

Just watched this movie on DVD. And while I found the hip-hop commentary interesting, the love story seemed to close too to LOVE AND BASKETBALL for comfort. After the cool opening scene (featuring cameos by Doug E. Fresh, Big Daddy Kane and De La Soul) I thought maybe the hop-hip angle would dominate the love story, and for a while it seemed like it would, but the opposite occured. The "friend-becoming-lovers" angles has been done better in other movies (LOVE AND BASKETBALL, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY.., etc.) and it's getting old. Don't get me wrong, the movie's not a total waste. The two leads are great, the supporting cast is good too. So if you don't mind a typical love story you just might want rent this one. Not great, but not bad as the other reviewers states.