The film attempts to juggle several story lines at once, attempting to tell a story of cross-racial romance and ethnic tolerance in contemporary America.
In this tale, based in and around Detroit, Michigan, three ethnic families are centered on: An African-American family who live in suburban Detroit; an Arab American Muslim family in nearby Dearborn; also a Chaldean-American family is featured-- somewhat of a little-discussed ethnicity in the national dialogue about middle-eastern derived Americans, Chaldeans are culturally Christian (they identify as Catholics but their religious hierarchy is separate from the Vatican), historically hailing from the northern regions of Iraq and border areas of Syria.
The principal characters are all college students (certain exteriors clearly identify Wayne State University), who are secretly dating someone of another racial background that their families are assumed to be disapproving of.
Here, a form of racial detente is presumed to exist among the communities-- It is alleged by the filmmaker that a preponderance of Arab and Chaldean families own most independent retail businesses in Detroit boundaries, e.g. gas stations, grocery stores, and liquor stores. Like Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing", the film highlights the social tensions with non-black store proprietors operating in predominantly black neighborhoods, and the mutual charges of harassment (verbal and sexual), racial profiling, and territorialism in business ownership and support.
Regarding the dating relationships featured in the film, everyone's parents and friends have something drastically negative to say about their family member's paramour; religious concerns are paramount, and threats of family shame and even death (so-called "honor killings") are uplifted. The family members are painted in broad strokes, and are given very little character development by film's end. They seem to mostly exist to be reflexively hostile to the idea of any form of cross-racial dating or marriage.
The actors: Marc Cayce- the Detroit born writer and director- does a decent acting job as Mark, the oldest child of a megachurch pastor. It's unclear what he does for a living besides be the right-hand man of a local thug played by Keith Sweat.
Taral Hicks- nicole, daughter of the pastor, Reverend Walters (Keith David; Ella Joyce plays his wife). She's a college student dating Abie (Tamer Werfali), who is Arab and Muslim. Abie's sister, in a subplot, apparently rebels against the more conservative tenets of Islam (i.e., body coverings) and secretly dates white men while her best friend is a "wild" Latina girl.
Fredro Starr- Brian, nephew of Rev. Walters. Brian's character is set up as a New York native who is staying with the family while he goes to school in Detroit. He's dating Crystal, the Chaldean girl in his school. Her brother is the hot-tempered owner of a liquor store in Detroit, and considers the older Chaldean businessmen of his community cowards for not being more aggressive in their business dealings (a "Godfather"-esque smoky room illustrates this point).
Keith David- As Rev. Walters, he's the wealthy pastor of a Detroit megachurch and owns a select number of small businesses in the city. His family lives in an unidentified suburb. He's knowledgeable about the differences between Muslim Arabs and Chaldeans, and as the film opens he's in a contentious debate with a Chaldean businessman about a pending open bid for a grocery store.
Tiny Lister- in a bit of stunt casting, Lister plays the henchman of a Chaldean liquor store owner. He doesn't get to do much except growl and act tough.
The film seems to alternate between digital film and regular film stock. The establishing shots and an assortment of intimate scenes take advantage of several Detroit-area landmarks, including downtown Detroit, East Dearborn's business districts, local colleges and Belle Isle Park.
Regarding the religious depictions in the film, it is mostly fair. Some members of a local mosque have bit parts, and a young woman flirts with the idea of converting to Islam, but services at the black family's (presumably Protestant) church are not featured, and the Chaldean Catholic culture is not given much screen time. A throwaway line about "black muslims" is included, but no African American muslims are featured in the film.
The film suffers from too many story lines, however well-intended they may be. Some of the principal actors are clearly 30-ish while playing 20-ish college students, which is a bit jarring. Most of the film's co-plots end rather abruptly, and only one ends happily.
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