Kenya BarrisSigned a deal with the producer of the television show ‘Black-ish’ netflix valued at $100 million that came to an abrupt end less than three years later. At the time, Barris had just premiered “#BlackAF,” one of those series the platform didn’t hesitate to cancel despite previously renewing it, but it was still to come. ‘people like you’His first feature film as a director.
It can’t be said that Barris made some radical choices for his debut, as “People Like You” is a romantic comedy that clearly follows “Guess Who’s Coming Tonight” and the latter. is indebted to similar productions released over the decades. fortunately, It has a good cast to make everything look better and ends up as an entertaining proposition.
an impossible love?
Don’t expect the slightest surprises in the pure plot. ‘people like you’ follow the boy meets girl structure by heartThey both fall in love but then a problem comes up that seems impossible and could end their relationship. We all know how this is going to end and Barris’ movie is no exception.
What is striking is that Barris manages the most common excesses in this type of production quite well without really giving up. For example, it would not surprise anyone to see walking tour As Akbar, especially since his goal for most of the footage is to make life miserable for Ezra (Jonah Hill), but when it comes down to it, he opts for a very restrained calm and without risk underlining his position as “her parents” did with Robert De Niro.
That doesn’t mean you don’t always play with contrast, whether it’s between characters — played by Ezra’s somewhat neurotic mother Julia Louis-Dreyfus It also makes Amira’s existence quite bitter. Lauren London– or the situations that are happening – especially funny is the moment in which Akbar backs away while testing something that Ezra said earlier – but always keeping everything under control.
I know there will be moments that maybe they could have looked better if they had let their hair down, but it helps when Barris bet that ‘people like you’ never stop losing a certain sense of naturalness that is being told close to the public -And this also applies to its technical and visual finish-. The fact of allowing yourself to have a little fun with topics you usually don’t get too into, like the Holocaust or slavery, adds to that as well.
Other details of ‘People like you’
However, at all times it is clear that it does not cease to be a thin layer of varnish that’s still the same as ever, That feeling is intensified during the final minutes, where the drama unfolds (though without surpassing it, either, don’t expect a great tearjerker moment or anything like that) so that everything heads in the expected and desired direction.
It’s true that the comic clearly takes precedence over the romantic, but watch for the good chemistry that Hill and London share, an important detail so what happens to that couple may matter to us in how much fun the movie is. There are times when one of the two protagonists is discarded to focus more on the troubles the other is having, but a key here is that we see the gray shades that both have to face. .
Well, this allows for more screen time for both Dreyfuss and Murphy, which is true given that they’ve shown more on other occasions, but that doesn’t mean they’re funny enough here and know what that contrast means. Barris is looking for how to play along in everything. moment. To them we have to add more secondary characters like an apostle David Duchovny Or even others like the father in Hill’s narrative who may only appear in a scene or two to add a little more spark to the film.
in short
‘people like you’ a fun movie Whose best asset lies in its actors, as for the rest it is a bit much – something especially evident during its last 15-20 minutes – albeit with some funny dialogues. That same Netflix included itself in its most powerful movie release of the year, but you don’t have a bad time watching it.
in espinoff,
